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18 
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RELIABLE 
POULTRY REMEDIES 



The Causes 

Symptoms and Treatment 

of Poultry Diseases 



TWEj^T\ --I'l I a; c/^:ai\s 



COPYRIGHT 1913 

RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO., 

QUINCY. ILLINOIS. 



^[-635 




PREFACE 

HE first edition of Reliable Poultry Remedies was published 
principally on account of the numerous letters received 
from the readers of the Reliable asking for information 
and advice concerning the care and treatment of their 
poultry in health and disease. It was seldom possible 
to prescribe a treatment and render the necessary assist- 
ance within the Umited space of a reply by mail, so that 
a trustworthy work on the diseases of poultry seemed 
necessary. In later editions the size and number of pages were materially 
increased; authentic articles were contributed by several well known special- 
ists on the diseases that they had successfully treated and the work was care- 
fully revised. 

A number of remedies prescribed for the same disease should not con- 
fuse the reader. A physician knows of several remedies, one of which may 
be better than the others, but in its absence he uses another with more or 
less success. In doctoring sick fowls and chicks, use whichever remedy is at 
hand. Time is often an important factor in a cure. 

Reliable Poultry Remedies will be revised and republished from time to 
time with a view to improving it, and the co-operation of interested persons 
is desired. A report, therefore, of your success in following the treatments 
prescribed in this work, or in applying other remedies with beneficial results 
will be greatly appreciated not only by ourselves but by the readers of future 

editions. 

EDITOR. 

Quincy, Illinois, November 1, 1913. 



©CI,A358610 



REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 

HEALTHY POULTRY* 

HOW TO MAINTAIN HEALTH IN POULTRY- 
HOW TO PREVENT DISEASE— HELPFUL SUG- 
GESTIONS ON BREEDING. CHICK GROWING. 
HOUSES. FOOD AND OTHER ESSENTIALS 

P. T. WOOD, M. D. 

T IS more important for the beginner to know how to prevent 
diseases than how to treat and cure them. In most cases 
where the amateur begins to doctor his flock he is in very 
mucli the same plight as the man who neglected to lock his 
barn door until after his horse was stolen. It is much easier 
to keep disease out of the flock than it is to get rid of it when 
sickness once gets a foothold. 

To combat disease successfully one must be familiar with the require- 
ments of the fowl in its normal condition and a general knowledge of the 
essentials of anatomy and physiology are desirable. With fowls, as with 
other live stock, we have almost absolute control over their environment, 
breeding, food and habits. This control and the fact that we can prompt- 
ly kill any undesirable specimen gives us the power to prevent or effectu- 
ally stamp out any disease which may make its appearance. In the major- 
ity of cases disease is preventable and on well regulated poultry farms it 
will be conspicuous only by its absence. Barring the unforeseen results of 
sudden climatic changes, accidents and certain insidious contagious dis- 
orders which occasionally make their appearance on the best regulated 
plants, disease can, in nearly every case, be prevented by good care and 
management and the exercise of ordinary common sense. 

Disease is seldom thought of until it makes its api)earance and to 
carelessness, ignorance and lack of forethought in this respect is due to a 
large extent the prevalence of poultry diseases — the horse is stolen before 
we remember to lock the door. 




BREED FOR HEALTH 

It is one of the well-known laws of heredity that "like produces like," 
— what is bred in the fowl will out in the chick. The tendencies to certain 
habits are readily transmitted from parent to offspring and when handed 
down for a number of generations, the tendency becomes more firmly fixed. 



♦Copyright 1904 by Prince T. Woods. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

To have healthy poultry we should breed for health as carefully as for 
any desired standard point. Breeding for health should be the foremost 
consideration since with the habit of health firmly fixed in the flock we 
• have a solid bed-rock foundation on which to build up a strain well fitted 
to develop all other desirable qualities. Breeding for health should begin 
not alone with the parent stock, hut if possible with the grandparents. 

SELECTING THE BREEDING STOCK 

In selecting breeding stock be sure to accept only strong, vigorous, 
healthy specimens, birds which are well developed, fully matured and 
which have never had any serious illness. If possible know that they 
come from perfectly healthy parents. No matter how good a specimen a 
bird may be, if it is not mature, does not possess size, vigor and a sound 
constitution, do not permit it to take a place in the breeding pen. It may 
hurt the breeder's feelings and require an effort to throw out a promising 
specimen for Buch defects, but it will pay in the end. 

There is. every reason to beheve that well grown chicks will inherit 
the habit of health from sound, healthy parents and that such will be practi- 
cally immune from disease when properly cared for. Birds used for breeding " 
should be born healthy and inherit a sound constitution from their ancestors. 
The bright eyes; red comb; smooth, bright, well-kept plumage; alertness, 
activity and a keen appetite indicate the healthy fowl. Remember, too, 
that though a fowl may appear to be healthy it should be examined care- 
fully for any deformities that may suggest hereditary taint. The body 
should be well formed and free from all such defects as wry wings or tail, 
enlarged joints, deformed backs or other evidence of improper development. 
Examine the legs carefully. They should be clear, clean, bright, well formed 
and typical of the variety. You can tell a fowl's condition by its legs quite 
as readily as a physician will note a change in a patient by his pulse. If the 
legs feel hot and dry to the touch, look pale and the veins are prominent, 
particularly if accompanied by a dry mouth and hot breath, quarantine the 
bird until you find out what is wrong. 

While the male bird is "half the flock," as we are often called upon to 
remember, it should be borne in mind that the selection of the females in the 
breeding pen is equally important. It is the female parent which, to a large 
extent, controls the size and shape of the progeny. Both male and female 
parents should be typical and perfect physical representatives of their 
variety. 

DON'T BREED "CURED" FOWLS 

Fowls which have once had a severe sickness should have no place in 
the breeding pen. Even though a specimen may appear to have fuUy re- 
covered, there always remain the possibility and probability that some 
constitutional taint remains which may transmit a predisposition to dis- 
ease to the offspring. A great deal of time and money is wasted in an en- 
deavor to cure diseased fowls. No fowl, unless it is an exceptionally valu- 
able exhibition specimen, is worth the expense and trouble attendant on 



REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 

the treatment of a serious sickness. Even in such cases the wisdom o( 
doctoring the bird is of doubtful quality. Spending several dollars worth 
of time and medicine in an attempt to cure a dollar bird, thereby endanger- 
ing the health of the balance of the flock, is suicidal policy. Minor ailments 
that give way to the prompt application of simple remedies will prove worth 
treatment, but in the long run the poultryman will find that a small grave- 
yard is more profitable than a large hospital. The poultry keeper who knows 
how and when to use the axe does more to insure healthy poultry than the 
man who resorts to the medicine bottle. 

INBREEDING 

Inbreeding is bad practice. Hereditary tendencies possessed alike by 
both parents are prone to be exaggerated in the chicks. For this reason 
never mate males and females possessing the same fault. Evil tendencies 
seem even more readily transmittable than good ones, and, for this reason, 
what the breeder gains in standard points by inbreeding he may lose in 
health and constitution. There is, however, less danger from carefully 
conducted inbreeding, if not overdone, using fowls of known parentage 
whose physical conditions and development are known to be of the best, than 
from the indiscriminate introduction of unknown new blood. Nature balks 
at inbreedine; and demands new blood, but she requires that it shall be above 
reproach. Secure health by breeding for it, and keep the birds healthy by 
.G,ood care. 

START THE CHICKS RIGHT 

Eggs fiom healthy fowls will produce strong, sturdy chicks when in- 
cubated under normal conditions. The test of incubation is the chick. A 
healthy chick comes out on time, neither too early nor too late, comes into 
the world with a vigorous kick and peep, is strong, large, well-developed, 
bright, lively and hungry. This chick has the hereditary tendency to health 
— a sound constitution. Whether it will develop properly or not depends 
now on the care and food it receives. A healthy chick should grow all the 
time from birth to maturity. Much depends upon how the little chick is 
started, and proper treatment at this time will often prevent trouble later on. 
For the first twenty-four hours small chicks should have no food. When they 
are removed from the nest or from the machine, care should be taken not to 
chill them, and each should be given, before being placed in its new home, 
whether brood-coop or brooder, a little drink of pure, fresh water by dipping 
its bill. It is very little trquble to do this, and the results are well worth the 
effort. For twenty-four to forty-eight hours after they are placed in the 
brooder or brood-coop, little chicks should have, as first food, dry stale bread 
crumbs, barely moistened with milk, to which has been added a little sharp 
sand. The effect of this food is to clear the chicks' digestive organs and to 
assist in the proper absorption of the j'olk. This food should be discontinued 
at the end of forty-eight hours, when the chicks may be put on any good dry 
grain chick food. Dry grain chick food is recommended because when it 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

is used there is less danger of losses from bowel troubles or kindred ailments 
than when mash or dough is fed. Oyster shell and piarble dust grit should 
be avoided for small chicks, since these have a tendency to promote bowel 
trouble. Pure, fresh water, in clean founts, a little pure charcoal and a 
good chick grit should be kept where the chicks can always have access to 
them. Some meat food and a plentiful supply of fresh green stuff are also 
essential to the proper development of the chick. 

With good care and wholesome food at the start, the healthy chick will 
invariably thrive, since it is its natural tendency to live and grow, notwith- 
standing the fact that some writers apparently would have us believe that 
most chicks are born into this world to die within the first two weeks after 
hatching. 

A standing stiU in the growth of young chicks should always be looked 
upon as a danger signal, warning the grower that there is some important 
matter that needs immediate attention. Chilling and over- heating the 
chicks must be avoided if losses are prevented. The aim should be to keep 
the chicks just warm enough, comfortable, busy and well fed. The presence 
of vermin must not be tolerated, since it is not possible to raise a good flock 
of healthy chicks and a big crop of lice and mites at the same time. The 
vermin generally come out ahead, while the chicks suffer. Everyone is 
liable to make mistakes, and some of them the sturdy chick with inherent 
healthy tendencies will overcome, and it will grow in spite of them, but mis- 
takes, once discovered, should be rectified, since a repetition of them is al- 
most invariably fatal. 

COMMON CAUSES OF DISEASE 

Unsanitary surroundings., vermin, dampness, crowding, impure water, 
improper food, neglect and want of exercise are all predisposing causes of 
disease. It does not matter whether it is a germ disease or not, when sub- 
jected to such conditions even a strong, sound constitution is liable to break 
down. All are preventable, and there is no excuse for the existence of any 
one of them on a well ordered poultry plant. 

LOCATJON AND VENTILATION OF BUILDINGS 

A poultry plant should be located on well-drained land, and the build- 
ings should be well-built, roomy, dry and not too low studded It is the 
best plan to provide for ventilation by opening the doors and windowp, ar- 
ranging them .so that the house can be tightly closed whenever necessary. 
Ventilators are seldom, if ever, satisfactory, and are almost certain to create 
drafts. Fowls sleeping in drafty roosting quarters are certain to become the 
victims of colds. Colds lead to other troubles, and the result is loss to the 
owner. The buildings should be tight and warm. The windows should be 
made to open so that the house can be given a thorough airing daily. If, 
after the house is made tight and is thoroughly ventilated daily by opening 
the doors and windows (the length of time to be governed by the weather 
conditions), it still seems to need ventilation, you may be certain that you 



REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 

have over-estimated its capacity, and that what you want in the house is 
not ventilators, but fewer fowls. The use of the now popular open-front 
house will do much to solve the problem of ventilation. 

IMPORTANCE OF SUNSHINE 

Sunlight is most important to h>^alth. The liouse should be so placed 
that through the day sunlight may penetrate to all parts of it. Sunshine 
and pure air are the greatest blood purifiers and natural disinfectants. No 
poultry hou.se should ever be built in such a manner that it cannot be thor- 
oughly sunned whenever the sun shines. This applies to all poultry build- 
ings. Many brooder houses which have proved unsatisfactory and which 
seemed veritable death traps for little chicks would have worked well if proper 
provision had been made for getting plenty of sun into the house whenever 
practicable. This does not mean that little chicks should be exposed indefi- 
nitely to the direct rays of the sun without an opportunity to seek a shady 
shelter. Such a condition would be almost sure to result fatally from sun- 
stroke, but the house and runs should be so arranged that the chicks may have 
sunshine and shade at will, trusting to their natural instinct to seek shelter 
whenever the heat from the sun becomes too strong for them. 

THE EARTH BATH 

For as long as the writer can remember, dust has been recommended 
as a remedy for all kinds of insect pests affecting poultry. It is true that 
fowls can stand more dust than human beings, but constant breathing of a 
dust-laden atmosphere invites catarrhal troubles. The place for dust is in 
the dust bath and not all over the poultry house. This bath should be 
loca*^ed in some sunnj^ corner. The so-called "dust" or earth bath is a neces- 
sity since it is the natural method of cleaning the skin and feathers and keep- 
ing down vermin. At this point attention should be called to the fact that 
the mosc satisfactory duet bath is "dust" in name only, since hens preier 
baths that are supplied with earth that is a little moist, and will always 
choose such rather than use one that is very dry and dusty. 

Dusting powders for destroying insects will be found valuable and very 
effective, but in order to get satisfactory results they shv)aid be thoroughly 
applied by working them well down into the feathers at frequent intervals. 
Where a large number of fowls are kept this involves too great an amount of 
labor for the results obtained, and it is much more satisfactory to encourage 
the hens to dust themselves by providing them with an earth bath. 

The roosts should be so placed that the fowls will not be required to 
do much jumping. Jumping to and from high roosts often results in 
injury. They should occupy the most sheltered position in the pen; should 
be high enough to escape floor drafts and should be far enough away from 
the roof to afTord ample head room and plenty of air space. Where the 
roosts are too close to the roof, the bieath from the fowls condenses on the 
boards in cold weather in the form of heavy frost, rendering the sleeping 

7 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

quarters damp and unsanitary. Small, narrow roosts or perches should 
never be used, since they are almost certain to cause corns, foot-abscess, 
bumble foot and cracked hocks. The most satisfactory roosts are made of 
2 by 3 inch stuff with the edges slightly rounded and set on a two-inch edge. 
A good cheap creolin disinfectant or lice paint should be used on the roosts 
and droppings boards two or three times a month. This is an easy means 
of getting rid of vermin and is conducive to good health. 

The droppings boards should be smooth, wide and ample and should 
not be too far below the roosts. They should be cleaned at frequent inter- 
vals. Daily cleaning is simplest and most sati.s.'actory and when persevered 
in requires much less time and trouble than when the droppings boards are 
cleaned but once a week or twice a month. After the boards have "been 
scraped, a htlle fresh earth or sand should be scattered over them. The 
nests should be cleaned and nesting material renewed at least once a month 
in summer as they afford hidng places for vermin. T.hey will not need at- 
tention more than two or chree times during the winter unleds fouled by 
broken eggs or droppings. Spasmodic attempts at cleaning up at irregular 
intervals do not accomplish tnuoh; it is the man who keeps things clean that 
gets results. 

ARTIFICIAL HEATING 

If the breeding and laying house is warmly built there will be no oc- 
casion for use of artificial heat. Artificial heat is out of place, except in the 
brooder house, and is liable to do more harm than good since the fowls have 
no control over the heat and cannot remove their feathers to cool themselves 
off if it gets too warm for them. When artificial heat is used the difference 
in temperature between that of the house and the outside air will often be so 
great that there is danger of the birds taking cold. Where the large comb 
varieties are kept, the danger from frostbite may be averted by using a bur- 
lap or muslin curtain in front of the roosts on cold nights. 

DAMPNESS— "HOUSE SWEATING" 

Crowding on the roosts must always be avoided since it is almost cer- 
tain to result in sweating and subsequent colds and roup. Provide ample 
roosting room for your birds and do not at any time allow more fowls in the 
pen than can be comfortable there. Fowls will not thrive in damp quarters 
and dampness should never be tolerated. Any vapor from the breath of the 
fowls that may condense on the walls and ceilings of the house, commonly 
termed "house sweating," can be overcome by airing the buildings well each 
day. The length of time for this airing will have to be determined by the 
condition of the weather, and in this regard the breeder will have to exercise 
judgment. 

THE YARDS OR RUNS 

The yards or runs should receive good care since foul ground is a source 
of disease which cannot be overlooked with safety. One reason that be- 



REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 

ginners seldom have much serious trouble until the second or third season 
is because at the start the buildings and grounds are new and fresh. Ap- 
parent success at the start leads to neglect and the fouled ground of the floors 
and runs breeds trouble. With portable houses the conditions are almost 
ideal since the poultry can be moved to fresh ground whenever necessary. 
With permanent buildings and runs the yards should be ploughed up at 
frequent intervals and sowed with some quick growing grain like rye to swee*'- 
en them. Fruit trees in the runs, combined with frequent stirring and work- 
ing of the soil and seeding down, afford satisfactory means of purifying the 
soil. Where gra.ss runs are used they should be ploughed and re-sown when- 
ever the ground shows evidence of needing sweetening. Here the poultry- 
man will need to be observing and possess a keen sense of smell. While an 
offensive odor does not necessarily mean disease and death, it is a good plan 
to consider it a danger signal. The poultryman who possesses a "sensitive 
nose" will find that that organ used with good judgment will save him many 
dollars in a year. 

DRINKING WATER 
As with human beings, the drinking water is the fruitful source of 
trouble. Probably more diseases are spread through the drinking water 
than in any other way. Impure water should not be allowed within reach 
of fowls. It is no uncommon sight on poultry farms, otherwise well kept, 
to find the water vessels in a filthy condition. To put clean water in foul 
receptacles is labor wasted, yet we often sec on poultry farms dirty wooden 
tubs or unclean metal vessels containing foul, green-scummed water. Care- 
lessness of this kind is almost certain to result in heavy losses. The drink- 
ing water should be the best obtainable and such as we would be willing to 
drink ourselves, since it plays a most important part in the make up of the 
fowl and of the egg. Water dishes should be made so that they can be 
easily cleaned and once a week they should be wash<^d and scalded or rinsed 
with some good non-poisonous disinfectant 

FOODS 
Food has an important influence on health. The amount of food, the 
variety and method of feeding depends largely on what your fowls have been 
accustomed to. Damaged food is money wasted, and feeding it is prejudicial 
to health. In feeding the aim should be to promote a healthy appetite by 
supplying a variety of wholesome, palatable, nourishing food. Its chemical 
composition is of secondary importance. Whether a dry grain ration is to 
be fed or one in which a moist mash plays an important part, is largely a 
matter of individual preference on the part of the breeder and one which will 
he will have to settle for himself. Anyone who is getting good results with 
his present ration would be foolish to change because someone else gets 
equally good or possibly a little better results by another method of feeding. 
Where mashes are fed, they should never be given hot, since a hot mash in- 
vites colds and other disorders by overheating the fowl and causing sluggish- 
ness. Mashes arc best fed barely warm. The writer prefers feeding mash 
at night, since fowls so fed will take more exercise. For the same reason 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

it is recommended to feed the most of the whole grains in deep litter. There 
has been a »?ood deal of controversy between the advocates of the moist mafih 
method of feeding and those who prefer the dry method, and a great deal 
may be said in favor of both plans. Where fowls are to be forced for egg pro- 
duction, the claim has been made, and results seem to sustain it, that more 
eggs can be obtained by feeding highly concentrated moist mashes than 
when the birds have an exclusively dry grain ration. However, it is a fact 
that it is more easy for the beginner to keep fowls in good health when fed 
on an exclusively dry grain ration than where mash foods are fed; also where 
mash foods are fed there is more or less of a tendency to bowel trouble, since 
mash fed fowls almost invariably void large quantities of soft, more or less 
watery droppings, while the stools of birds fed exclusively on dry grains are 
usually of better consistency and indicate a more healthy condition of the 
digestive organs. This is not surprising, because the natural and normal 
method of feeding is on hard, dry grains. 

For Uttle chicks, the dry grain chick food plan of feeding has almost 
entirely superseded the moist mash or cooked food methods, and we have 
yet to learn of any poultry raiser who, after once trying the dry plan of 
feeding small chicks, ever returned to the old style dough and mash mix- 
tures. There are fewer losses with the dry method, less labor, and equally 
good, if not better, chicks, which seems sufficient argument in its favor. 
Cooked foods are not to be recommended for poultry, except by way of var- 
iety, since cooking partially, if not wholly, destroys the anti-scorbutic 
properties of the food, and birds fed for a long time on cooked foods have 
less power to resist disease and are more prone to digestive disorders than 
those fed on raw grains. 

A supply of meat food is essential to health, and a most satisfactory 
plan is to keep good, clean, pure beef scrap constantly before the birds. 
Green food is essential to health at all seasons and should be supplied in 
the form of lettuce and cabbage heads, fed whole, spHt beets and mangels 
hung up for the birds to pick at, thus forming an incentive to healthful 
exercise, as well as furnishing a desirable addition to the ration. When- 
ever practicable, a grass run should be provided. In cold weather cut 
clover, which has been steamed or scalded to soften it, should be fed in 
troughs daily or mixed with the mash food. Never lose sight of the fact 
that green food and meat food are, in addition to grain, necessary to the 
health of the fowl. A little salt in the moist mash promotes better diges- 
tion and serves to favor more ready absorption of the food. Where mash 
is fed, it should be given in clean troughs, which must be thoroughly cleaned 
at frequent intervals. 

MEDICINES AND TONICS 

Tonics and medicinal foods, while they will undoubtedly help fowls 
of unsound constitution, are not desirable, since, if we are to have and 
keep healthy fowls, we must not breed from birds that require constant 
dosing. Hpalthy fowls will do their best without the use of condiments. 
Feeding condition powders and the like to healthy birds that are already 

10 



REQUISTES FOR HEALTH 

doing all that should be expected of them is like whipping up a horse that 
is doing his l>est to pull a heavy load, and is bound to bring about discourag- 
ing results. The less dosing the fowls get the Better. Healthy stock should 
need little or no medicine. A good grit is necessary to health, as also is a 
•supply of oyster shell for adult fowls. These siiould be kept constantly 
before the birds. Granulated charcoal should always be kept in one com- 
partment of the grit box. Wherever a tendency to looseness of the bowels 
is noted, a little mash containing powdered charcoal may be fed with 
excellent results. If constipation proves troublesome a little linseed meal 
and some bran in the moist mash, or bran fed dry, usually corrects the trouble. 
Preventive medicine in the form of drugs is of little use. Disinfectants are 
necessary, and some good non-poisonous creolin disinfectant should be freely 
used about the poultry house at frequent intervals. 

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 

Fowls that have been bred for health and so cared for as to keep them 
in good condition seldom become victims of contagious disease. A sound, 
vigorous constitution is the best safeguard against contagion. To prevent 
the spread of contagious diseases every sick bird should be isolated as soon 
as discovered. Remove it from the flock at ojice. Do not wait until some 
more convenient time, since you are liable to forget and the bird may- not 
be removed until the trouble has spread sufficiently to assume alarming 
proportions. All new birds or fowls which have returned from the show 
room should be subjected to at least ten days quarantine before being per- 
mitted to run with a flock, and if suspected of being diseased should not be 
allowed to run with other birds until it is positively certain that no disease 
is present. Birds which have recently recovered from any disease should 
not be returned to the flock until it is absolutely certain that they are cured. 
Poultrymen should not go direct from handling sick birds to the quarters 
of well ones or your neighbors' birds should not be allowed with your own. 
Do not go direct from other henneries to your own, and last but not least, 
never keep sick birds ioi the room where the food for other fowls is kept. 

The poultry buildings should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected 
at least once, or better, twice a year. The walls should be thoroughly 
swept with a stiff broom and then brightened by a thorough appUcation 
of good hot whitewash, to which a little carbolic acid or creolin has been 
added. If whitewash is not obtainable, use some good wood preservative 
and paint the whole interior of the house with it. If the floors are made 
of earth or sand, dig them up and cart off the upper six inches and, 
after disinfecting with a good fluid disinfectant, replace with new fresh 
earth or sand. If the floors are of wood or cement, cleanse them thor- 
oughly and whitewash them or mop them over with some cheap non-poison- 
ous disinfectant, then cover them with a f6w inches of sand or earth. 

EXERCISE 

Exercise is a most important factor in promoting good health, and 
should never be lost sight of. Fowls must exercise or they will become 

n 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

fat and their muscles atrophied. Fat and flesh are not the same thing. 
Some fat is essential to health, but a very fat fowl is never a healthy one. 
Proper exercise helps the fowl to keep up in flesh and muscle and to burn 
up any surplus fat. The healthy fowl will hold its weight, allowing for 
slight variation at different seasons. Lack of exercise tends to divert the 
digested food from flesh forming and the development of eggs and turns it 
to fat making. For some reason food seems to be disposed of more readily 
in storage of fat than for the purpose for which we intend it. If we fail 
to supply a sufficient incentive to proper exercise, we are almost certain to 
defeat our purpose in feeding. Sluggishness begets laziness; exercise begets 
activity, and activity is necessary to health and the performance of the 
normal functions of the body. 

Where the dry food hopper plan of feeding is adopted, fowls should 
have liberal range, so that they will take the necessary exercise in ram- 
bling about in search of bugs, insects and other natural food, otherwise the 
dry grain should be fed in litter to encourage exercise. 

Exercise is very important for growing chicks. To do well, mature 
properly, and make the best of their growing up, they should have a liberal 
range. A good grass range on the farm will do much to help chickens to 
outgrow any evil tendencies which they may have inherited. The range 
should give them the freedom of a grassy field where they can get good grass 
food, worms and insects. Old or young fowls should never be coddled or 
babied. They should be provided with a suitable shelter, and then allowed 
to use their discretion about keeping under cover. The shelter should be 
such as will provide protection against wind, rain and sun, and it should be 
so arranged that they can run to it if they want to. 

Fowls usually lay more eggs in semi-confinement than on free range, 
but the eggs of yarded fowls seldom hatch as well as those of birds which 
have more freedom. Where birds are confined, they should have comfort- 
able houses and good sized runs, plenty of litter deep enough to keep them 
scratching and a sufficient supply of grain in the litter so that they can al- 
ways find a little by scratching for it, lest they become disgusted from dig- 
ging and finding nothing. If they are permitted to have plenty of outdoor 
exercise and the houses are well sunned and aired daily, you will not find 
the birds susceptible to colds from sudden changes in weather. Where it 
can be avoided, fowls of different ages and conditions should not run to- 
gether in the same flock. Fowls of various sizes and varieties do not do as 
well running together as if they were in separate flocks. 

Tuberculous persons or animals, consumptives or other diseased human 
beings should not be permitted to go near any live stock. To be successful 
in breeding healthy fowls means that the breeder must at times sacrifice 
sentiment and possibly some high-scoring or record breaking birds, but in 
the end he will find that it pays. Constitutional disease is a danger too 
serious to be overlooked, and every day those who are interested in the study 
of poultry diseases find fresh evidence of its prevalence. If poultry is to 
he kept from becoming a menace to public health, every breeder must do 
his best to produce healthy poultry. 

18 



PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE 

Every poultry keeper should have personal knowledge of how to recog- 
nize the disease of fowls and chicks and of what steps to take to cure them. 
But of far greater value is the knowledge of how to prevent these diseases, 
and the poultry man who does not know how to care for and feed his flock 
so as to accomplish this, is liable to have more than his share of annoyance 
and loss. In this book the object has been to- describe the more common dis- 
eases of domestic fowl and tell how to treat these diseases, in order to help 
the beginner who does not recognize symptoms until a disease has gone too 
far to prevent it, or who has not yet learned the art of keeping his flock up 
to that point where diseases are warded off. 

Our successful poultrymen know how to ward off diseases — first, by 
having stock that possesses vigorous constitutions; second, by proper housing 
and feeding;, third, by absolute cleanliness. The question of clean poultry 
houses is so important that it cannot be emphasized too strongly, so we give 
the following definite directions. 

HOW TO CLEAN A POULTRY HOUSE 

The following excellent advice is given by Dr. Raymond Pearl, of the 
University of Maine: — 

Not every poultryman of experience even, knows how really to clean a 
poultry house. The first thing to do is to remove all the litter and loose 
dirt which can be shoveled out. Then give the house — floor, walls and ceil- 
ing a thorough sweeping and shovel out the accumulated debris. Then 
play a garden hose, with the maximum water pressure which can be obtained, 
upon floor, roosting boards, walls and ceiling, until all the dirt which can be 
washed down ea.sily is disposed of. Then take a heavy hoe or roost board 
scraper and proceed to scrape the floor and roosting boards clean of the tram- 
pled and caked dressing and dirt. Then shovel out what has been accumu- 
lated and get the hose into action once more and wash the whole place down 
again thoroughly and follow this with another scraping. 

Next, with a stiff-bristled broom thoroughly scrub walls, floors, nest 
boxes, roost boards, etc. After another rinsing down and cleaning out of 
accumulated dirt, let the house dry out for a day or two. Then make a 
searching inspection to see if any dirt can be discovered. If so, apply the 
appropriate treatment as outlined above. If, however, everything appears 
to be clean, the time has come to make it really and truly clean by disin- 
fecting. To do this it is necessary to spray or thoroughly wash with a scrub 
brush, wet in a solution used for all parts of the house, with a good disinfect- 
ant at least twice, allowing time between for it to dry. 

HOW TO DISINFECT A POULTRY HOUSE 

First. See that the house is perfectly clean by following faithfully the 
instructions given above. Where the garden hose is not available, use in- 
stead a broom or a scrubbing brush. 

13 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Second. Fumigate. Before fumigating it will be necessary to provide 
accommodations for the fowls. Usually these operations take place during 
mild weather, when it will not hurt the birds to be shut out of the house for 
eight to ten hours. The closing up need not be done until along towards 
noon when most of the laying is over with. Should there be other houses, 
shed or coops into which the hens can go to lay, the fumigating can be done 
at any time. 

In case the disinfecting is done during cold weather, extra precaution 
should be taken in caring for the hens. If they are laying, do not expose 
them to sudden changes. Usually, however, when conditions are such that 
it is necessary to do this house-cleaning in the winter time, very few eggs are 
forthcoming, and it is not a question of keeping up the egg yield, but of 
getting the house properly disinfected. When the hens are removed close 
up the house as tight as possible and light sulphur candles. Let them burn 
four or five hours or until they are exhausted. The house then can be opened 
and in half an hour the rest of the disinfecting should be finished. 

Third. Thoroughly disinfect by the use of good lice paint, applied with a 
brush or sprayer. Paint the roosts, drop boards and nests very thoroughly. 
Be sure the liquid gets into all the cracks and joints of the roosts. Miss no 
place where the fowls go or where the insects may hide. Follow this with 
some of the good, coal-tar preparations sprayed over the entire surface of the 
inside of the house. Take pains to get into every corner. 

Now that the house is clean, this spray should be used once a week through- 
out the summer and once a fortnight during the winter. To do this is im- 
portant, because it is a simple matter to keep a poultry house clean after it 
has once been thoroughly cleaned and properly disinfected. 

Fourth. To make a complete job, follow the foregoing treatment with 
a whitewash brush and your house will be as clean and healthful as hands can 
make it. The whitewashing will depend upon the time of the year and the 
accommodations for the fowls, but if possible have it done before they are al- 
lowed to enter the house again. A good whitewash, one that will stick and 
not rub off, is made as follows, or in these proportions: — 

U. S. GOVERNMENT WHITEWASH 

Unslaked lime 2 pecks 

Common salt 1 peck 

Rice flour 3 lbs 

Spanish whiting 1 lb- 
Glue 1 lb. 

■y^ater Sufficient quantity 

The quantities given are sufficient to make nine or ten gallons of white- 
wash. If only part of the whitewash is needed, the balance can be kept 
for future use. Should a smaller quantity be desired, the proportions can 
be cut down to suit. 

Directions. To properly make the amount of whitewash above men- 
tioned, two vessels are needed, one holding at least ten gallons and the other 

14 



REQUISITES FOR HEALTH 

holding half as much. A small barrel and a tub or any water-tight vessel 
will answer very well. 

1. Slake the lime in the barrel, using two or three gallons of water for 
two pecks of lime. 2. Cover the barrel. 3. Dissolve the salt in water, 
strain the brine and add it to the slaked lime in the barrel. 4. Boil the rice 
flour for ten minutes in a small quantity of water. 5. Dissolve the glue in a 
double cooker or water bath and avoid scorching. 6. In the tub mix the 
whiting with about five gallons of hot water. 7. Add to the whiting mix- 
ture in tub the boiled rice and dissolved glue. Mix thoroughly. 8. Pour 
mixture in tub into the barrel containing slaked lime, stir well until thor- 
oughly mixed. 9. Cover barrel to protect from dirt and let whitewash 
stand for a few days, when it will be ready for use. 10. This whitewash 
should be applied hot if best results are to be obtained. Heat it in any ket- 
tle or other metal vessel on a stove or suspended over a fire. 

Fifth. Before allowing the fowls to return to the clean house they them- 
selves should be made clean by a thorough treatment for lice. It is a good 
plan to go over them with some good insect powder or powdered sulphur 
before removing them from the house and aguin on putting them back. 
Dust the powdc;* well into the feathers of every one and allow no sickly 
birds to enter the clean house. 

A first class lice powder can be made by mixing 5 parts oi Napthalenc 
flakes with 95 parts of some good carrier such as a cheap talcum powder that 
can be purchased for 5 to 10 cents a pound. 

Sixth. Remove and destroy all wooden feed troughs, and provide new ones. 
If these are made of galvanized iron they can be kept clean with little trouble. 
Galvanized or earthen ware drinking vessels must be thoroughly cleaned by 
scalding and scouring. If tlie old ones are not in perfect condition it is much 
better to destroy them and to provide new. 



15 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

ROUP AND "ROUPY" COLDS 

SYMPTOMS WHICH WILL AID DIAGNOSIS— CAUSES 
AND CONDITIONS— BEST MEANS OF PREVEN- 
TION—SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT 

P. T. WOODS. M. D. 



IN actual every day experiences diseases are not as easy to recognize as 
one might be led to believe by reading about them in books. It is 
often difficult to tell just which symptoms belong to the disease, and 
which belong to some other cause or condition. It is not always pos- 
sible to say where one disease leaves off and another begins, and it is quite 
likely that we may meet more than one disease at the same time In the same 
subject. During the past nine years I have had an opportum'ty to observe 
and treat roup and "roupy" diseases in large flocks of fowls under many con- 
ditions. I have not had the time nor the equipment to make a microsco- 
pical search for the germ or germs (the bacteriological) work properly be- 
longs to the laboratories of our experiment stations), but I have had ample 
opportunity to see and treat "roupy" diseases. 

The name roup has been given to all poultry ailments having the common 
symptoms of "frothy eyes and running discharge from nostrils." All 
"colds" may have these symptoms, and every cold is not roup. There are 
three diseases of a roupy nature which are not easily differentiated — roup 
for contagious catarrh), diphtheria and influenza. I tbiakthat the latter is 
a distinct disease with a special germ of its own, but am not prepared to say 
positively that this is so. Many contend that contagious catarrh and diph- 
theria are caused by the same germ, and in view of the close relationship 
between these diseases this may be so. In such case, roup (contagious ca- 
tarrh) and diphtheria may be the same disease, the symptoms varying only 
with the virulence of the germ and the conditions; but although the diseases 
have many things in common, and tend to merge readily from one into the 
other, I prefer (until the laboratory experiments settle the matter) to con- 
sider the diseases as two distinct plagues. 

ROUP 

The term roup has been applied to nearly all poultry diseases accom- 
panied by the symptoms described as "frothy eyes and running discharge 
from nostrils." All "colds" may have these symptoms, and every cold 
is not roup.^ 

16 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

Roup or contagious catarrh is a very common disease. It has not yet 
been positively determined that this disease is distinct from diphtheria or 
diphtheritic roup. It may be acute or chronic in form, and is character- 
ized by a catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, 
nose and throat. It is always accompanied by the familiar foul "roup 
smell". The odor is peculiar to the disease, and is very lasting and pene- 
trating and when once recognized there is very little danger of ever mis- 
taking any other disease for roup The disease is often very contagious, 
but in some cases only mildly so. It should always be regarded as dan- 
gerous even in mild cases since some of the worst epidemics of this disease 
have had their origin in mild cases that were deemed of little importance. 
It is caused by a specific germ. The predisposing causes are, all condi- 
tions of bad hygiene and improper care, neglected colds, hereditary tend- 
ency and weak constitution. 

SYMPTOMS 

The symptoms develop in from two to five days after infection. First 
there is dryness and inflammation of the mouth and throat, followed by 
frothiness and bubbles in corners of eyes, sneezing, and a thin sticky dis- 
charge from nostrils begins. Symptoms now develop slowly or rapidly, 
according to the virulence of the attack or the condition of the bird. The 
disease may confine itself to the simple catarrhal symptoms of discharges from 
the nose and eyes (always accompanied by the "roup smell," which in roup 
can always be detected by seizing the bird and squeezing the discharge 
from the nostrils, or by opening the mouth); or the disease maj', if virulent, 
run rapidly througli the whole range of symploms^ — one or both eyes pufTed 
and swollen, discharge from nostrils thick and purulent or glairy, cakes and 
crusts on nostrils and on feathers where the head rests under the wing at 
niglit, diphtheritic patches form in the mouth and throat, cheesy masses form 
about the eyes; fowl often shows marked constitutional symptoms of 
poisoning by the disease — appetite lost, dumpishness, feathers roughed, 
loss of weight, followed by death, or the fowl may continue to live with a 
chronic form of roup. 

Do not expect a roupy fowl to get w^ell spontaneously. I doubt if any 
fowl that had had roup was ever really permanently cured. The disease 
has a habit of running a chronic or a dormant course, and then cropping 
out to infect a lot of fresh victims. Fowls apparently cured of roup are 
liable to show the disease at regular periods coincident with the first at- 
tack. Birds sick with an acute attack of roup will not fatten, but those 
apparently cured or having chronic cases will take on fat if fed for it. Hens 
with chronic roup may lay eggs. Such eggs do not produce healthy chicks. 
Eggs from fowls apparently cured will hatch chicks that arc apparently 
all right until the sea.son of the j'ear arrives when their parents had roup — 
then they are almost certam to contract the disease. That is where the 
hereditary predisposition comes in. The disease itself is not inherited, 
but the tendency to become a victim of roup may be transmitted for gen- 
erations. Birds bred from roupy stock are particularly liable to contract 

17 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

the disease. The droppings of a lowl having roup may or may not have 
the "roup smell." Birds with chronic roup frequently have a ravenous 
appetite, but do not grow or take on flesh in proportion to the amount of 
food eaten. Eye inflammation in roup may lead to ulceration and loss of 
sight. In some cases, when the discharges are purulent, portions of the 
nostrils soften and come away in the slough. 

The easily recognized "roup smell" is always present in this disease, 
and whenever you smell roup there you can find it if you look for it. Do 
not forget that. If you disinfect thoroughly after roup you may get the 
smell out of the house and runs, but if the foul odor sticks and comes up good 
and strong on the first warm day after a frost or light cold snap, look your 
flock over for new cases, and thoroughly disinfect the quarters again — first 
removing all sick birds. 

Handling roupy birds sometimes results in the operator contracting a 
similar disagreeable disease. Whether it is identical with the fowl's dis- 
ease or not I do not know, but it has the same smell. I have seen several 
cases of "roup" in men, and have heard of others. One case was my own, 
the infection of one of my eyes by roupy matter coughed into it by a bird 
I was handling. The eye was swollen and painful, and yielded slowly to 
treatment. In the fall of 1900 I saw one case and knew of two others where 
the men were handling a great many roupy birds. The men had marked 
roupy symptoms, and the cases ran a course of about two weeks. The eyes 
were swollen and "bunged up". There was roupy discharge from the eyes 
and nostrils, and the discharge had the "roup smell." 

TREATMENT 

When the disease first makes its appearance, remove every sick bird 
from the flock as soon as you can find it: establish quarantine for all sus- 
pects; clean up and use a good non-poisonous disinfectant, like creolin, 
sulpho-naphthol or nap-creol, freely about the houses and runs. Kill all 
very sick birds and burn them. Do not keep roupy birdrj moping about 
to infect others. It is not wise to waste time and money doctoring, and 
it is not good judgment to waste two or three dollars' v/orth of time and 
medicine on a dollar bird. If roup does attack your flock, try to stamp 
it out as soon as you notice the first symptoms. Don't wait foi the first 
case to appear, but prevent the disease by good care and management. 
Creolin, one teaspoonful in an ordinary bucKct (ten quarts) of drinking 
water,, is an eff'ective remedy In individual birds the discharge can be 
dried up by using creolin and water, equal parts, for swabbing out the 
throat, and for painting the nostrils. For bathing the eyes, use a little 
more water. Apply it with a bit of absorbent cotton twisted about the 
end of a toothpick, or use the end of a stiff feather. 

If the disease is taken in hand early it can frequently be stamped out 
by using a creolin spray. Mix one teaspoonful of pure creolin in a gallon 
of water. With a small spray pump that throws a very fine mist, spray 
this solution about the poultry houses after the birds have gone to roost. 
Spray it about the heads of the birds so that they may inhale the vapor. 

18 



HEAD, THRQAT AND LUNGS 

It will cause a great deal of sneezing and coughing. This treat raenl every 
night for ten days to two weeks will cure many stubborn catarrhal colds 
and frequently cures mild cases of roup. 

The poultry houses should be thoroughly aired daily by keeping the 
south windows open for a greater part of the day throughout the year. 
Some poultrymen make a practice of putting all birds which contract roupy 
colds into open front sheds, even in severe winter weather, and leaving 
them to shift for themselves with a liberal supply of food and water. The 
results of this radical "'fresh air treatment" are surprisingly good. 

A favorite prescription is twelve tablets of aconite, bryonia and spongia 
comp. (1-100 of a grain drug strength each,) in each pint of drinking water, 
allowing the birds no other drink. Or for individual treatment give the 
bird one tablet three times a day. This often cures severe cases. 

One of Mr. Hunter's favorite remedies is the following. "A table- 
spoonful of clear lard, half a tablespoonful each of vinegar, cayenne pepper 
and mustard; mix well together; add flour until the whole has the consis- 
tency of dough, roll into slugs about the size of the top joint of the little 
finger and put one down the patient's throat." Repeat it in twelve hours, 
if necessary. One dose often cures a mild attack. 

Spirits of turpentine, one part, with glycerine six parts, makes a good 
roup lotion. Use it for bathing the face and eyes, for injecting into the nos- 
trils, and for swabbing the throat. 

Permanganate of potassium often proves an effective remedy in both 
roup and diphtheria. It is only of value when used for individual treat- 
ment and when used the treatment must be thorough and frequently re- 
peated. Thoroughly mix one grain of finely powdered permanganate of 
potassium with one ounce of finely powdered milk sugar (confectioner's 
sugar may be used if desired). Blow this powder into the bird's nostrils, 
mouth and throat three or four times a day. Do this every day while 
the bird is under treatment and continue for three or four days after it is 
apparently well. This will kill the germs, remove the odor and remedy 
the inflamed condition of the mucous membrane. It is particularly useful 
in all cases where there are fetid ulcers or cheesy growths in the mouth, 
t hroat or nose. 

Feed stimulating food, and endeavor to keep up the bird's appetite. 
Roup remedies containing sulphate of copper are valuable in the drink- 
ing water, but no better than and often not as good as, creolin. A weak 
solution of sulphate of copper in water (about a teaspoonful to a quart of 
water) makes a good wash for the throat and nostrils. The various roup 
pills are all more or less effective. 

Very sick birds should always be killed and cremated. The sick birds 
under treatment should always be kept in quarantine apart from the rest 
of the flock, and the quarters should be kept thoroughly disinfected; thig 
applies to all contagious diseases. 

19 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

DIPHTHERITIC ROUP 

Diphtheritic roup or diphtheria is a contagious disease affecting poul- 
try and is prevalent in winter. While it is probably a distinct disease from 
roup, it is closely allied to, and may co-exist with it. It is often difficult 
to tell just where roup leaves off and diphtheria begins. When roup ia not 
present the "roup smell" is absent, but a foul odor always accompanies 
diphtheria. 

Diphtheria affects the mucous membrane of the mouth, throat, nasal 
passages and eyes. It is characterized by the appearance of pearly gray 
or yellowish patches, which form on the mucous parts mentioned. The 
patches of "false membrane" are small and scattered at first, but have a 
tendency to run together. Any attempt to remove this membrane is fol- 
lowed by bleeding. The breath is very foul, owing to decomposition of 
the discharges and portions of the membrane. 

Symptoms 

Fowls in apparently good health become suddenly ill, lose appetite 
and appear dumpish. Eyes and nose may or may not show a frothy or 
glairy discharge in the early stage of disease. Fowl's body and legs are 
hot, comb is hot and deep red, and later becomes pale and drooping. Fre- 
quently cough with sharp "pip" sound, or difficult breathing and livid- 
ness of face and comb. Throat red and inflamed, with small pearly or 
wash-leather colored patches'on the back part of the throat or about the cleft 
of the palate. Patches increase rapidly in size and often run together; 
may grow rapidly, filling the mouth and throat, and causing death from suf- 
focation. Any attempt to remove membrane results in bleeding. (If the 
membrane comes away easily and does not leave a raw bleeding surface 
the disease is not diphtheria). Great weakness from constitutional poison- 
ing. Membrane may extend into the windpipe and cause death from 
suffocation, or may extend into the nasal passages and to the eyes, causing 
swollen face and head. Breath always has a foul odor. This is a decidedly 
different odor from the "roup smell." 

Roup may have any or all of these symptoms common to diphtheria, 
but does not have the following sequalae which belongs to diphtheria. Par- 
alysis of the heart may appear at any stage of diphtheria and cause death. 
Cases which have apparently recovered may develop paralysis of the throat, 
which prevents swallowing, or the fowl may lose the use of legs or wings. 
The paralysis is not necessarily permanent. One attack of diphtheria pre- 
disposes to another, and a fowl should not be considered well until at least 
six months have elapsed since the last symptoms were observed, with no 
recurrence of the symptoms. The fowl's system is thoroughly poisoned 
by the disease, and complete recovery is a matter of a very long time. 

Treatment 

Undoubtedly the best treatment is to kill the sick birds as soon as 
the disease is recogni?ed and burn the bodies. One attack of thf disease 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

makes the victim susceptible to other attacks. Birds which have had 
the disease should not be used for breeding purposes. 

Individual treatment is the only way this disease can be treated suc- 
cessfully. Feed stimulating food. Blow a little flowers of sulphur into 
the throat through a quill. Swab out the throat with a bit of cotton on 
a toothpick or match moistened with undiluted creolin, and bathe the 
throat, mouth, nostrils and eyes with a solution of creolin (one teaspoon- 
ful in four fluid ounces of water). In cases where there is a thick, tough 
membrane, the swab, may be moistened with undiluted creolin or with 
"LoefBer Solution," and then held for a few minutes directly against the 
membrane and moved gently over it. Don't drop any of the medicine 
into the windpipe unless you want to kill the patient. Give the sick bird 
one tablet of protiodide of mercury (1-100 of a grain strength) two to four 
times daily until the membrane begins to disappear. Then reduce the 
dose gradually until but one tablet a day is given. Continue for one week 
after the membrane is gone. Permanganate of potassium may be used 
as recommended in treatment of roup. 

Follow this up by good care and feeding easily digested soft food in 
which is some good tonic powder. In this way the bird may often be pulled 
through and put in sufficiently good condition lO show. Five drop? of Fel- 
lows' compound, syrup of hypophosphites, made into a pill with bread 
crumbs, and given three times daily is a good tonic during convalescence. 

INFLUENZA 

Influenza, "epizoonc" or "grippe" is another contagious catarrhal 
disease often closely associated with roup. It is undoubtedlj' quite dis- 
tinct from the two preceding diseases, although it often appears with them. 
It is an acute, moderately contagious fever common to all seasons of the 
year, and may be met in any climate. This disease appears in many forms 
.simulating other diseases. The most common form is a "roupy cold" with- 
out the "roup smell," which may or may not be accompanied by a watery 
diarrhoea. The predisposing causes are bad hygiene and unsanitary sur- 
roundings — anything tending to debiUtate the fowl. 

Symptoms 
A sudden cold, "with watery eyes and nostrils and much sneezing." 
Fowl is dumpish and feverish, drinks water frequently. Throat and mouth 
are inflamed and contain frothy mucus. The breath may have a bad odor, 
but there is no "roup smell." No patches in the throat. The eyes may 
swell, but there is seldom any ulceration or blindness. Sometimes fever- 
ishness, loss of appetite, and a greenish, watery diarrhoea are the chief 
symptoms, with little or no head symptoms. The disease runs a course of a 
week or ten days. In epidemic form it is frequently fatal. Ordinary cases 
recover slowly, and there is always a tendency to another attack. 

Treat meat 
Hydrogen dioxide solution in water (equal parts) is useful for cleans- 
ing the mouth and nostrils. A weak creolin solution is equally good, and 

21 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

cheaper. A one-grain pill of quinine sulphate given at night and morn- 
ing for a few days and then only at night will often effect a cure in recent 
cases. The aconite, bryonia and spongia mixture (ten drops of the tincture 
of each in an ounce of alcohol), a teaspoonful in a quart of drinking water 
is a very useful and effective remedy. 

The tablet form is sometimes more convenient to use. For this pur- 
pose is recommended the aconite, bryonia and spongia comp. tablets (1-100 
of a grain drug strength each) twelve in each pint of drinking water, or give 
one tablet to each bird two or three times a day. 
COMMON COLDS 

In the winter season, when cold, blustery winds prevail, even fowls 
having the best care are sometimes liable to contract simple colds. If 
these are taken in time, serious trouble will be avoided, as simple catarrhal 
colds, if neglected, render fowls Uable to roup, the inflamed mucous mem- 
brane being a very favorable site for the development of the roup germs. 
The common causes of simple catarrhal colds are exposure to cold, chilly 
winds; exposure to stormy weather without proper shelter for the fowls 
to run to, overcrowding the sleeping quarters, draughts, improperly ven- 
tilated houses, houses which have been closed too tightly early in the season, 
thereby making the fowls tender; very warm sleeping quarters, combined 
with cold, bleak, open scratching sheds; hot mashes; fussy coddUng of the 
birds, making them tender; the careless application of artificial heat; ex- 
posure in shipping coops; very dusty houses, and sudden atmospheric changes. 

Symptoms 

Sneezing, bubbles in the corners of the eyes, watery or sticky discharge 
running out of the nostrils and eyes, with much coughing and sneezing. 
There is no odor as in roup. If the discharge has a "roupy smell," the dis- 
ease is roup and not a simple cold. 

Treat ment 

The disease may be easily controlled if taken early. Remove the cause 
if possible, and confine the birds to the house until they have fully recovered ; 
air the house well daily, and do not allow the birds to be exposed to the cold 
winds or storms. When the first symptoms appear with a little sneezing 
and frothiness about the eyes, use twenty drops of spirits of camphor dropped 
on sugar and then dissolved in a pint of drinking water, no other drink being 
allowed the fowls. Do not drop the camphor into the water, or it will not 
mix. Use as directed. This often checks the trouble at once. If the cold 
is slightly more advanced, with much sneezing, and water running from the 
eyes and nostrils, the aconite, byronia and spongia mixture or tablets ad- 
vised in preceding disease will be found a valuable remedy. For "head 
colds" of long standing, where there is thick discharge from the nostrils 
and no odor, try (after thoroughly cleansing the nostrils with hydrogen 
dioxide solution) injecting morning and night into each nostril a little of 
the following: One part of finely powdered iodoform in twenty parts 
liquid alboline. 

S2 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

CROUP 
Croup or a croupy cold is an inflammation of the upper portion of the 
windpipe. It may result from colds or be caused by inhalation of irritat- 
ing dust or vapor. The symptoms are those of a cold, with difficult, noisy 
breathing, the neck stretched and held far out from the body. Examin- 
ation of the throat will show much inflammation of the upper part of the 
windpipe and back portion of the throat. The fowl's comb, face and wat- 
tles may turn dark colored, indicating suffocation, thick masses of mucus 
may be seen on the back walls of throat and in the upper part of the wind- 
pipe. There is often much rattling in the throat when breathing. 

Treat ment 

Ordinary oases, without much rattling of the throat and w^ith loud 
whistling or wheezing in breathing, may be successfully treated with aconite , 
bryonia and spongia comp. tablet or mixture. (See treatment of influenza) . 
When there is much rattling in the throat use arsenite of antimony tablets 
(1-1000 of a grain drug strength each), one tablet three times a day for in- 
dividual birds, or a dozen tablets dissolved in a pint of drinking water for 
flock treatment. This remedy will be found effective in a majority of cases. 
If the bird seems to be suffocating, bathe the throat with cold water or let 
the bird inhale the vapor from boiling water. If half a teaspoon of creolin 
is added to a gallon of boiling water, the treatment will be more effective. 

BRONCHITIS 
Bronchitis is an acute catarrhal inflammation of the mucus of the bron- 
chial (air) tubes, accompanied by oppressed breathing and profuse discharge 
of mucus from the air tubes. It is also spoken of as bronchial catarrh, cold 
in chest and rattling in chest. This disease is common in the fall and win- 
ter seasons from changes in the weather, exposure, dampness, inhaling irri- 
tating vapors and dust, crowding and sweating, changing from very warm 
quarters to cold ones, and vice versa. Birds that have some constitutional 
weakness and roupy ancestry are especially liable. 

Symptoms 
Bird is very thirsty and feverish. Legs, body and head are hot, fre- 
quent cough, labored breathing, accompanied by a whistling sound, cough 
later becomes loose and rattling. The rattling of mucus of the air passages 
can be distinctly heard accompanying respiration. 

Trea t ment 
When taken early, the aconite, bryonia and spongia mixture recom- 
mended in the treatment of influenza, often gives prompt relief. In some 
' cases it will be the only remedy needed. If the cough is persistent, with 
much rattling, try the following treatment: 

Obtain some tablets of arsenite of antimony, 1-1000 of a grain drug 
strength each, and give one tablet to each sick bird three or four times 
daily. This remedy may be given in the drinking water in the proportion 
of twelve tablets to each pint of water, allowing the birds no other drink. 

2<« 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

PNEUMONIA 

Pneumonia, lung fever or winter fever, is an acute, infectious, croupy 
inflammation of the air cells of the lungs. This is a contagious disease, 
caused by a special germ, which needs only certain conditions to develop. 
These conditions are debility, with exposure to cold and damp, sudden 
changes in weather, too close confinement and coddling of the fowls for 
fear they will get cold; in fact, anything that renders the fowls tender and 
delicate. Overshown birds and those kept in warm, tight houses that are 
poorly ventilated are especially liable to pneumonia. Brooder chicks too 
closely confined in warm brooders or overheated brooder houses are fre- 
quently attacked with this disease. 

It is the opinion of many reliable and experienced poultrymen that 
the open-front scratching shed plan of housing and other open-front types 
of buildings will do more to prevent pneumonia than medicine will to cure it. 

Symptoms 

Labored breathing. Every respiration ends in a grunting or groan- 
ing sound, fowl shows no disposition to move about, and seems to devote 
all its energies to the effort to breathe. The bird's position is peculiar to 
the disease. Usually it is a half-squatting, half-standing position, with 
wings drooped and held away from the body, neck stretched, mouth open 
and panting for breath. If the ear is held close to the chest a crackling 
noise not unlike the sound of crumpling parchment will be heard. 

Treatment 

Remove the bird to warm quarters where the temperature will not 
go below or much above 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If the atmot-'phere can 
be kept moist with steam heat, so much the better. Give an aconite, byronia 
and spongia comp. tablet (1-100 of a grain drug strength each) one every 
three hours. If the bird will not drink, give teaspoonful of a mixture of 
raw egg and milk. Feed nothing but egg and milk until the breathing be- 
comes easier. Give no solid food for at least forty-eight hours. As tht, 
fowl recovers, gradually harden it to a cooler temperature, and do not re- 
turn it to the flock until it is strong and able to stand the temperature of 
the poultry house. Feed easily digested and stimulating soft food while 
convalescent. 

EYE TROUBLES 

The most common eye trouble is conjunctivitis, a catarrhal inflam- 
mation of the mucous membrane about the eye. It may result from the 
extension of this inflammation of the throat or nose to the eye membrane. 
Sometimes it is confined entirely to the eye and not dependent upon other 
disease. 

The causes are bad hygiene, exposure to cold winds, draughts, injm-ies 
and irritating dust. Symptoms are gumming of the eyelids with mucous 
discharge from the eyes. There is great swelling of the face about the eye 
on one or both sides. The disease may appear as a symptom of roup but 

24 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

frequently occurs in fowls that have never had roup. Some cases recover 
spontaneously after the disease has run a few days, the swelling subsides, 
a little gentle pressure below the eye will expel a lump of cheesy matter, 
and after this is removed the case recovers. In purulent cases, where there 
is a considerable discharge of pus from the eye, keratitis, or inflammation 
of the cornea, may result. This is an inflammation of the outer membrane 
covering the pupil of the eye. If noticed early, a small wliite spot or ulcer 
will be seen over the pupil. The lids may gum together, but in all cases 
the fowl keeps the eye closed, as exposure of the eye to the light is painful. 
Sight may be lost as a result of the ulceration. All cases of eye trouble, 
when under treatment, should be kept in darkened coops. 

Treat ment 
For simple conjunctivitis, use fifteen drops of tincture of euphrasia 
in each pint of drinking water, allowing the bird no other water. Cleanse 
the eyes by bathing them with a mild antiseptic solution like dilute hydro - 
gendioxide, (one part hydrogen dioxide to two parts water), or anoint the eye-lids 
with a two per cent creolin ointment made with vaseline or lard. In puru- 
lent cases give tincture of Pulsatilla, ten to fifteen drops in each pint of 
drinking water, and use the ointment after bathing the parts. If there is 
ulceration of the cornea (keratitis) bathe the eyes with cool water contain- 
ing a little hydrogen dioxide and then anoint the inner part of the lid with 
an ointment made of ten grains of finely powdered iodoform in an ounce of 
vaseline. The nostrils should be cleansed and the nose and cleft palate 
dosed with the following powder: Equal parts pulverized camphor, boracic 
acid and sub-nitrate of bismuth, well mixed. If cases of eye trouble are 
neglected and allowed to go without treatment the fowl may lose the use of 
both eyes, as the disease has a tendency to attack the remaining eye after 
destroying the sight of one. Feed easily digested, nourishing food. 

CANKER 

Canker is an ulcerative catarrh of the mouth which occurs commonly 
at all seasons of the year, but is more often noticed among birds that are 
kept in close confinement during the winter months. This ulcerative 
inflammation may occur on any part of the mucous membrane of the mouth, 
tongue or throat and is characterized by the presence of one or more yel- 
lowish or cheesy patches on the mucous membrane. It sometimes attacks 
the mucous membrane of the eyes or is noticed about the vent. It is slightly 
contagious. 

The causes of this disease arc not well known, however, it is probable 
that it may be caused by any one of a number of microscopic germs, it being 
a fact that any scratching or laceration of the mucous membrane is usually 
followed by a cheesy or cankerous growth. Experiments have shown that 
these growths are chiefly made up of pus germs, pus in a fowl usually takes 
the form of a chijesy growth. Male birds after fighting almost invariably 
have canker, as they frequently pick one another in the mouth. The dis- 
ease is very common among fowls that have been working in musty or moldy 

25 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

litter, or that have been fed on spoiled grain. Disorders of the digestive 
organs or other disturbances which cause an unhealthy condition of the mu- 
cous membrane of the mouth and throat are likely to be accompanied by 
an attack of canker. 

Symptoms 

The first noticeable symptoms of this disease are one or more small 
whitish or yellowish ulcers or a cheesy growth on the roof of the mouth, 
the side of the tongue, the angles of the jaws or sometimes at the opening 
of the wind pipe. The growth is hard and tough but can usually be re- 
moved without much bleeding, leaving a raw, ulcerated surface. 

Treatment 

Burnt alum applied to the canker sores will often effect a cure. Treat- 
ing the canker spots with a swab (made by twisting a bit of cotton about a 
sharp stick) moistened with undiluted creolin or with "LoefHer's Solution," 
holding the swab firmly against the canker sore for a few moments and mov- 
ing it gradually over the whole ulcer or patch is very effective in some cases. 
Mild cases may frequently be cured by the application of murate tincture 
of iron in the same manner. The following powder is highly recommended 
for the treatment of canker where there are a considerable number of canker 
spots or groups of ulcers. 

Equal parts of pulverized camphor, boracic acid and sub-nitrate of 
bismuth, well mixed. This should be blown in the nostrils or throat by means 
of a straw or glass tube. For internal treatment give tablets of mercury 
protiodide, 1-100 of a grain drug strength each. One tablet given to each 
bird three or four times a day until the canker spots disappear and then the 
dose gradually reduced will usually effect a cure. 



26 



ROUP 

THE SYMPTOMS. CAUSES AND TREATMENT OF THE 
VARIOUS TYPES OF THIS MALIGNANT DISEASE 

PROF. F. C. HARRISON AND DR. H. STREIT 

ONE of the most widely spread and destructive diseases affecting 
domestic fowls is commonly known as Roup, Canker, or Dis- 
temper. By some, the disease is called Cancer of the Mouth, 
Throat, etc., or even by the name of Fowl Diphtheria; but all 
these different names are given to the same disease, according as some 
particular symptom is more or less prominent. 

This disease is probably one of the greatest hindrances in the poultry 
business. The direct losses from the disease vary greatly in different epi- 
demics. Thus in a virulent outbreak there maybe many deaths in a short time; 
while, in another a flock may become infected and only a few birds die. 
Of much greater importance are the indirect losses; and these are apt to be 
overlooked by farmers or those who keep only a few fowls and pay but little 
attention to them. The diseased birds recover very slowly; and they re- 
main thin, anaemic, and unfit for egg-production, fattening or breeding — 
eating just as much as if they were normal and living at the expense of their 
keeper. 

General Condition of Roupy Fowls 

The general condition of roupy birds varies very much. After the 
first symptom of the disease, which is usually a putrid catarrh from the 
nostrils, the affected fowl is generally restless, separates from other mem- 
bers of the flock, becomes dull, cowers in the corner of the coop or mopes 
in the corner of the pen, with its head drawn close to its body and often 
covered with its wings. 

If there is a severe discharge from the nostrils or eyes, then the feath- 
ers upon the wings or back are likely to be smeared with it, stuck together, 
and after some time fall out; and the eyes often shut, the lids being glued 
together by the sticky discharge from them. 

A fowl in a sleepy condition, or moping as described, frequently rouses 
itself for a time, takes food, and especially water, and then gradually re- 
turns to the apathetic condition. 

Many fowls having the disease in a chronic form keep their normal 
appetite for a long time, and seem very little disturbed physically, whilst 
others, especially when the face or eyes become swollen, lose their appe- 
tite, grow thinner and thinner, and finally become too weak to stand or 
walk around, when they lie down and die in a few days. During the last 
stage diarrhoea, with offensive yellow or green discharge, often sets in and 
causes death in a short time. 

27 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Many poultry keepers assert that roupy birds show fever; and it is 
certain that the head is often very hot, but the body temperature is nor- 
mal, or only very slightly higher than normal. 

Special Symptoms of Roup 

By the term Roup we generally understand a more or less putrid dis- 
charge from the nostrils, which lasts for weeks or even months. The 
disease often foUows a common cold, to which fowls, especially young fowls 
and those of the more delicate breeds, are much predisposed. 

In the first stages of Roup, the birds often cough or sneeze, and the 
breathing is noisy, caused by the partial closing of the air passages, which 
become blocked with the discharge from the nostrils. When the air pas- 
sages are entirely closed by the discharged products, the fowl has to open 
its beak in order to breathe. 

Sometimes a yellowish cheese-like mass forms in the nostrils, growing 
quickly and pressing the upper walls of the nose upwards; and if this mass 
is removed, an uneven bleeding surface is left, which forms a new cheesy 
mass in from 24 to 48 hours. 

Whilst many roupy birds show only the above mentioned symptoms, 
others become more seriously diseased. The face of roupy birds is very 
often swollen, especially between the eyes and the nostrils; and this swell- 
ing, which is hot and sore, sometimes grows into a tumor as large as a walnut 
— generally firm and hard. A bird in this condition is frequently found 
scratching at the tumor with its claws or wings, as if endeavoring to remove 
it. If the tumor grows on the inner side, towards the nasal passage, it 
forces the roof of the mouth downward, and the upper and lower beak are 
slowly pressed out of their normal position, so that the bird cannot close its 
mouth. 

On making an incision into the tumor, we find a solid, cheesy, yel- 
lowish matter, which may be pulled out Like the root of a plant; but it 
usually has to be broken into small pieces in order to get it out. Around 
this mass, there is a more or less smooth, gray or brownish membrane that 
is capable of again forming a cheesy mass similar to what has been removed. 

The mass itself, when not attended to,, often grows into the nasal canals, 
and blocks them up completely. Generally combined with the formation 
of the tumor on the face, there is an affection of the eyes; or the eyes be- 
come diseased without the preliminary discharge from the nose, in which 
case poultry keepers speak of fowls as suffering from "Roup of the Eyes." 

Roup of the Eyes 

The first symptom of the eyes is generally an inflammation of the eye- 
lids. The.'^e become red, swollen and hot; then the mucous membrane 
and glands of eyes become inflamed and begin to secrete a liquid — at first 
clear, and then of a gray, slimy, putrid character, which dries on the feathers 
at the side of the head, causing them to stick together or fall out. If the 

28 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

secretion is retained in the eye socket, it undergoes a change, becoming a 
yellowish, solid, cheesy mass of the same appearance as that found in the 
nasal tumor. This cheesy mass either forces the eye out of its socket, or 
the inflammation entirely deafroys it. The^e cheese-like mapses form in 
one or two days, and may reappear after many daily removals. 

All these affections, de«cribed abo^'e, may be localised on one side; 
but often both nasal passages and both eyes affected at the same time. 

Combined with the symptoms of roup above described, there often 
are patches of a grayish yellow exudation firmly adherent to the mouth, 
throat, etc. These patches are called "false membranes," and on account 
of their somewhat close resemblance to the membrane which is formed in 
human diphtheria, it has been thought by some writers that the avian and 
human diseases are the same. Here, however, let it suffice to say that the 
weight of evidence is against this contention. 

We may also point out that many poultry keepers who notice the false 
membrane on the throat and mouth of their fowls, regard the disease as 
quite different from the catarrhal form, and call it "canker," which is prob- 
ably a popular form of the word "cancer." 

Whether the disease is characterized by false membranes, offensive 
discharges, or cheesy masses, the cause is the same, as we have many times 
experimentally demonstrated. 

At one or several places in the mouth or throat, these yellowish, smooth 
or uneven membranes appear, and either remain small and disappear after 
a few days or grow thicker, spread, and become firmly attached to the mucous 
membrane; and if they (the false membranes) are removed, an uneven, 
bleeding surface is exposed, which looks like a true cancer. 

After the appearance of the membranes the adjacent submucous tis- 
sue sometimes becomes inflamed, and finally the growths are found to be 
similar to those so often seen at the side of the face— containing solid cheesy 
matter in the centre. 

When the throat is blocked by these false membranes, the animal's 
breathing becomes abnormal, and the air passing through the throat pro- 
duces loud noises. Gradually, the visible mucous membrane and the comb 
turn blue, and the fowl finally dies from suffocation. 

The Course of the Disease 

The course of roup is usually of long duration. A simple, putrid dis- 
charge from the nose may stop in three or four weeks, and similarly false 
membranes may soon disappear; but generally the symptoms last for months. 
When the eyelids become swollen and tumors appear, the case is usuallj' 
chronic. Affected birds may be better for a few days or weeks, and then 
become very weak again. Damp, cold weather usually intensifies the dis- 
ease. 

It is well known that fowls may be more or less sick from roup for one 
or even several years; and these birds should have the greatest care and 
attention, for they'are generally the cause of new outbreaks. Once intro- 

29 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

duced, roup may remain ia a flock for many years. The first cold and 
moist nights of the early fall and early winter cause all kinds of catarrhs, 
which in many instances are followed by roup. Roup spreads rapidly in 
the winter time and may attack from 10 to 90 per cent of the fowls in a 
flock. Towards spring, the disease gradually disappears; during the sum- 
mer month.^, a few birds remain chronically affected; and then the first cold 
nights give the disease a fresh start. 

Young fowls and fowls of fine breeds are especially liable to roup. 
While some poultrymen maintain that birds once having suffered from roup 
never take the disease again, most of the experimental evidence tends to 
show that no acquired immunity exists, as sometimes happens after other 
diseases. Some fowls are, however, naturally immune, and never take 
the disease. In the course of our own experiments, a white chicken which 
had never had roup, was inoculated with repeated and large doses of the 
roup germ, but without effect. 

Roup is an Infectious Disease ' 

The first experiments were conducted; to find out whether or not Roup 
was an infectious disease; and for this purpose, 10 healthy fowls which 
had never been exposed to infection, were confined in a cage with diseased 
birds; and after varying periods of time five of the healthy birds caught the 
disease. Fourteen healthy birds were then treated by rubbing a portion 
of the false membrane, or putrid nasal discharge from roupy birds upon 
the normal or slightly scratched, mucous membrane of the nose or eyes; 
and in this way, two birdes were infected with typical roup 

These experiments, therefore, show the infectious nature of the dis- 
ease; but the degree of infectiousness was not large. We must, however, 
remember that when fowis are kept under natural conditions where they 
are subjeci to cold, etc., the infectiousness may be much increased 

To sum up, roup or fow; diphtheria, canker, etc., is a complex of sup- 
purative processes. The disease ,s generally spread by sick fowls intro- 
duced into healthy flocks. The germs are spread throughout a yard by 
means of the secretions, a though these do not always contain the casual 
organism. The infected fowls are noc very much different in their gen-- 
eral appearance and condition at the beginning of th^ disease, and thus 
they often take food and water for a long time, contaminating the food, 
troughs and cups. As the germs cannot affect fowls so long as the mucous 
membranes are intact and healthy, the disease does not spread for a cer- 
tain length of time, although the germs may be present almost everywhere 
in the yard. Then comes a change of weather, such as a cold night or the 
the beginning of fall or winter — and suddenly the infectiousness of the dis- 
ease is increased and roup spreads rapidly among the birds. Unfavorable 
weather, which causes colds and other affections of the mucous membranes 
directly, opens the way for infection. But it is possible that the roup bacilli, 
having infected a number of fowls, may gain so much in virulence as to be 
capable of entering into the tissues of the fowl without previous colds. Like 
colds, other circumstances which weaken the constitution of the fowls 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

such as unsuitable food, or feeding, unhygienic yards, bad water supply, 
etc., contribute towards the spread of the disease. Once present in a poul- 
try yard, the roup-causing bacilli cannot be got rid of, unless by very care- 
ful disinfection; and this is valueless so long as any of the fowls are diseased; 
and, as we have already stated, fowls often remain affected with roup carry- 
ing the germ in a semi-dormant state, for months or years. 



Treatment and Preventatives 

As roup is not a specific infectious disease that is, a disease caused by 
a single species of germ, it is almost impossible to prepare a preventative 
or curative serum. Hence this method of treating infectious diseases can- 
not be used in roup, and besides it would be very costly. 

The germs of roup are not very resistent; they can easily be destroyed 
when present in cultures, or somewhere outside the animal; but in the ani- 
mal tissue, they are very diflScult to kill, because they penetrate into the 
tissue; and unless this too is killed, the germs continue living for a long time. 
Roup may be cured by remedies, if the treatment is careful and judi- 
cious. 

Obstinately re-appearing false membranes can be successfully treated 
by burning the diseased tissue with a strong acid (hydrochloric acid 50 per 
cent to 75 per cent) or other caustics, such as silver nitrite. If the eyes aod 
nose are attacked, they have to be carefully washed, at least twice a day, 
with an antiseptic solution, such as 2 per cent boracic acid in a decoction 
.;<f chamomile flowers, or | per cent solution of corrosive sublimate Thus 
the micro-organisms are killed or at least, the diseased products which are 
discharged are removed, and the irritation caused by them, also the trans- 
formation into large cheesy masses is prevented. 

We had chickens badly affected with roup of the eyes, which were 
cured with boracic acid and chamomile. On account of the smallness of 
the nostrils and nasal canals, it is very difficult to get the antiseptic solutions 
into the nose and nasal cavities; but it can be done with a small syringe. 
If this treatment is too troublesome, then the nostrils, at least, should be 
washed and opened several times a day, to allow the secretions to pass 
away. We have treated chickens for 14 days by dail}' washing with a two 
and one-half per cent solution of creolin and glycerine. After the wash- 
ings, small plugs of cotton wool, filled with mixture, were placed in the 
nostrils and lachrymal ducts. This remedy did not cure the roup, although 
the same mixture readily kills the roup bacillus in cultures in from 2 to 3 
minutes. The greatest hindrance to a sure cure by remedies which have 
been used locally, is the ability of the germ to penetrate into tlie tissue and 
the many secondary cavities of the nostrils whicli cannot be reached by the 
antiseptic. 

Another method of treatment which gives excellent results, especiallj- 
in the early stages of roup, is the use of 1 to 2 per cent of permanganate 
of potash. Fowls are treated in the following manner: The nostrils are 

31 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

pressed together between thumb and forefinger in the direction of the beak 
two or three times. Pressure should also be applied between nostrils and 
eyes in an upward direction. This massage helps to loosen the discharge 
in the nostrils and eyes. The bird's head is then plunged into the solution 
of permanganate of potash for twenty or thirty seconds, in fact the head 
may be kept under the solution as long as the bird can tolerate it. The 
solution is thus distributed through the nostrils and other canals and has 
an astringent and slight disinfecting action. This treatment should be 
given twice a day and continued until all symptoms have disappeared. 

If there are solid tumors in the eyelids, they should be opened so that 
the skin may bleed freely. The cheesy matter should be removed and the 
surrounding membrane touched with a 5 per cent carbolic acid or silver 
nitrate solution, and then a cotton plug filled with some antiseptic, put 
into the cavity. The cavity has to be washed out daily with an antiseptic 
mixture, and a fresh cotton plug put in again to prevent the cavity from 
healing too quickly. We have cured chickens in this way in about a fort- 
night. 

As all these methods of treatment demand a great deal of time and 
care, they cannot well be used for whole flocks, but the more valuable fowls 
may be treated in this manner. Farmers and poultrymen should first try 
the permanganate of potash method of treatment as it is the easiest to em- 
ploy. 

Food remedies influence roup only by strengthening the fowls and 
assisting nature to throw off or conquer the disease. 

As in other infectious diseases, the most important thing is to prevent 
an outbreak, or to suppress it as soon as possible. All diseased fowls should 
be separated from the healthy one; and the healthy ones should be examined 
daily, with a view to isolate newly affected birds. After the isolation of 
the diseased birds, the poultry yard should be disinfected thoroughly with 
a five per cent solution of carbolic acid, followed by a careful white-washing 
of the walls, etc. Slightly diseased fowls, or any of special value, can be 
cured, if much care is taken. Less valuable birds, which it will not pay to 
treat, should be killed as soon as manifest symptoms of the disease appear 
especially when the face becomes swollen. These fowls, unless the best 
care is taken, will remain diseased for months, or perhaps years, and give 
rise to fresh outbreaks whenever an unfavorable season (with much wet 
cold weather) occurs. 

The most effective preventative for roup is to keep fowls under good 
sanitary conditions — in dry, roomy yards and dry, clean, airy houses which 
are free from draughts and can easily be cleaned and disinfected. 

OTHER TREATMENTS OF ROUP 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

At the commencement of the disease local medication is likely to give 

better results than internal administration of remedies. Both are needed, 

however, to give best results. In the treatment of roup, as in handling 

32 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

of all dieeasee of the air passacjes, the most satisfactory way to get the medi- 
cines where they will do the most good is through the use of an atomizer. 
It will be good practice to buy one costing from fifty cents to one dollar. 
The cheap ones are constantly getting out of order. 

When you find a bird sneezing, or notice a slight discharge from the 
nostrils, spray all mucous surfaces you can reach with the following solu- 
tion: Extract witch hazel four tablespoonfuls, liquid carbolic acid three 
drops, water two tablespoonfuls. Do this twice a day, squeezing the bulb 
five times for each nostril and twice for the mouth. The sick fowls should 
be kept from the others to avoid spreading the disease. After removing 
the sick fowls, give the drinking and feed dishes a careful washing in as 
hot water as can be used, cleaning the pens as thoroughly as possible. If 
the dishes are of iron or tin a baking in an oven will destroy all germs. If 
the disease has progressed to the stage of swelled-head and thick discharge, 
and the bird has a sluggish walk, add one i)art "Piatt's Chlorides" to five 
of rain water, and bathe head thoroughly with the solution, seeing that some 
of it gets into the nostrils and throat. Some of the cases of five years ago 
used to get well under what was called the "coal oil treatment". This 
consisted of pouring on the surface of a pail of water about a gill of kerosene 
oil, which floated on the surface; the swelled head birds were taken one by 
one and slowly dipped, so tho heads were under the surface, and held while 
•'one — two — three" was slowly repeated, and then raised, the necks and heads 
being wiped. I remember seeing twenty co'^kerels, so thick that the dis 
charge was thick and bad gmelling, receive this treatment twice a day for 
two days, being obliged to take all drink from dishes that had a film of the 
oil always floating on the top, and come up out of the severe stage, improv- 
ing from day to day, finally being sold to the butcher in nice conditiou. 

A friend of mine who has been a breeder of poultry for twenty years 
insists that the oil treatment is the surest of any yet tried by him, and he 
has bought and used many of those advertised in the years before he began 
to use kerosene. He says he never was satisfied until he depended on the 
oil. This friend has never used what I am now sure is the coming remedy, 
and that is peroxide of hydrogen. This is "death to germs." It is a liquid 
coming in strong bottles, tightly corked, and needs to be diluted with from 
three to six parts of water. There is a good preparation of this known as 
"Ilydrozone,'' that is often to be found at drug stores, that should be di- 
luted with from five to eight parts of water. This solution applied to the 
diseased surfaces at once begins to foam, and should be repeated until there 
is no more bubbling. A little of the solution forced into the no.strlls by the 
use of a dropping tube from the force of the foaming is driven higher up 
into the nostrils, reaching parts otherwise out of thuch. The won" the case 
the stronger should be the solution, and the longer it must be used. The 
diet in roup should be simple. Green food if possible should be within 
reach, and all mashes should have at least one-third clover. The place of 
detention should be dry and sunny. Drinking water should be changed 
twice a day. 

83 



THE DISEASES OF THE LUNGS 

THE CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF BRONCHI- 
TIS. PNEUMONIA. CONSUMPTION, AND TUBERCULOSIS 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

THE diseases of the lungs are bronchitis, pneumonia, consumption 
and tuberculosis. Of these, bronchitis may be either acute or 
chronic; pneumonia is acute, consumption and tuberculosis 
chronic. These diseases are not easily given one to another, 
but there is danger enough to make it desirable to keep all sick fowls from 
well ones. Bronchitis is limited to the lining membrane of the bronchial 
tubes, pneumonia to the air cells, consumption to the substance of the 
lung tissue, tuberculosis to all parts of the lungs. 

BRONCHITIS 

While catarrh is an inflammation of the lining of the nostrils, bron- 
chitis is limited to a like surface of the breathing tubes. Bronchitis may 
be as mild as a simple catarrh or as severe as the worst attack of roup. We 
see all grades of severity, from a common "cold" to a suffocating catarrh 
dangerous to life. There is always plenty of germ life to be found in the 
mucous discharge, but we are not sure whether the germs are the cause or 
the accompaniment of the disease. 

Bronchitis is caused by e.xposure to storms, especially when the birds 
are housed in too close or too warm a building; by sudden atmospheric 
changes; by direct currents of cold air; by irritating particles of dust or 
lime; or by the spreading of inflammation from diseased throat or nostrils. 

Bronchitis is not so often seen in young chicks as is diarrhoea; there 
seems to be a tendency toward bowel rather than lung trouble during the 
early months of the chick's life. Bronchitis in chicks is commonly caused 
by exposure to rain; by sudden extremes of temperature due to overheated 
brooders and cold brooder houses; or by close, foul air. 

1 have known air-slaked lime to so irritate the mucous surfaces as to 
produce what resembles an ordinary bronchitis. The droppings boards 
were freely dusted with lime while the birds were confined to a closed house. 
There seems no reason for the use of air-slaked lime about poultry build- 
ings. Ground plaster and dry earth are so much better and cheaper that 
they should always be used, and this source of danger avoided. 

Unless you are looking for the outbreak of this disease it will have a 
start of one to three days before the fowl appears to be really sick. There 
is from the first some rise of temperature and a little difficulty in breath- 

31 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

ing. The lining of the bronchial passages is dry and swollen, hindering 
the passing in and out of the air. At the end of the second day the fowl is 
quite thirsty and is a constant visitor at the water dish. There is not a 
decided cough, but the noise made is more of a whistling character. It is not 
often to be heard at any distance, and may require the putting of j-our ear to 
the side of the birds, to make out the peculiar sound. As the disease progresses 
there is more and more mucus poured out, disturbing the action of the 
lungs, and changing the noise from whistling to rattling. 

Chronic bronchitis may arise from the passing of an acute case into 
the chronic form, or it may be simply slow and light from the beginning. 
The chronic form is not unknown to any breeder of a few year's experi- 
ence. These cases often seem to be well fowls except for the rattling in 
breathing. We dislike, however, to hear this noise, and it is always a source 
of danger to have even a local disease on hand. L'hronic bronchitis re- 
sponds fairly well to medication and any one of us is willing to take a little 
trouble to cure it. 

Treatment 

If you have a case of bronchitis on hand, and suspect that others are 
developing the disease, be prompt in attempting to cure the sickness. Acon- 
ite will do this in a large proportion of cases. I prefer aconitine to the tincture 
for quick and sure results, but it is not to be bought outside the large cities, 
and even there it is not always to be had in convenient form for use. I 
have obtained such sure results from the use of the alkaloid (aconiten) in 
my own practice that long ago I put on one side the tincture. A good tinct- 
ure should be given in one drop doses to each fowl, every two hours. There 
is no better way than to mix as many drops as you are to feed the fowls 
with a little mash and give in such dishes as to let each bird have its propor- 
tion. One day's treatment persisted in will cure nine-tenths of the cases. 
Feed a hot mash of at least one-half bran, and keep all the fowls in as even 
temperature as possible. 

The chronic cases, known by the marked rattling in breathing when 
on the roost at night, require a course of tonic treatment. The combina- 
tion of the arsenates of iron, strychnine and quinine, known as "Dumas 
Anti-malarial Pill," was introduced by me to the poultry world some years 
ago, for the cure of chronic bronchitis. It has done good service. 

This pill should be given in mash, morning and night. Quite often 
the only case of chronic bronchitis on hand will be one of the best males, 
and it annoys me to have the head of a pen sick in any way. These cases 
are more disagreeable than dangerous. 

PNEUMONIA 

Pneumonia is a catarrhal inflammation of the lining of the air cells 
of the lungs. It is a serious disease, often unrecognized during hfe, and 
proving fatal in a large proportion of cases. The more we have to do with 
this disease the more sure we are that it is somewhat infectious. 

35 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 
Treat ment 

The treatment of this disease must be prompt and active. To wait 
a few days or to be afraid to use good sized doses is to lose the fowl. The 
disease is sudden, rapid in its course, and dangerous to life. Hence be quick 
to recognize the first appearance of any sign of pneumonia and to meet the 

indications. 

If you can arrange it conveniently, place the fowls in coops in a room 
that can be warmed to 70 degrees of temperature, with some plan of fur- 
nishing moisture. If the room be otherwise dry and sunny, with heat 
enough to allow for ventilation, you will get better results. Let the food 
for a week be little besides raw eggs, milk and beef juice. This may be 
given with bran, as a hot mash, or it very likely will have to be put into 
the throat by means of a dropping tube. If the bird is willing to eat, let 
him; if he cannot, you must give him food or he is likely to die. 

Among the remedies in common use are two that you must avoid, 
and these are quinine and liquor. They will do more harm than good, 
and should not be used in acute troubles. Quinine is always to be avoided 
in any acute inflammation of the chest. In small doses, as a tonic, it is 
good in chronic diseases. 

There is no single remedy for pneumonia better than aconitine, early 
administered and given in sure doses. The tincture, if reliable, will give 
as good results. The trouble in giving medicine to a fowl is to be sure 
that it is getting the right amount in the right way. One drop of the tinct- 
ture, or one-fifteen-hundredth of a grain (1-1500) of the amorphous aconi- 
tine, every two hours, during daylight, will do something toward bring- 
ing the bird through the sickness. The small dose, often repeated, will 
give results that are not obtained when giving large doses twice a day. 
Make a few pills of mash and sulpho-carbolate of zinc, one grain of the 
zinc in each pill, and make the bird swallow one morning and night. The 
liquid medicines can be given in a little water from a spoon, or dropped from 
a tube, or mixed with a mash if the bird swallows. 

CONSUMPTION 

Consumption and tuberculosis present certaip symptoms in common. 
They are widely different in others. Consumption is likely to have fol- 
lowed a badly cared for case of pneumonia, bronchitis or roup. Tuber- 
culosis is always preceded by a previous case. Neither disease is likely 
to appear in well cared for, sturdy fowls. Neither disease is inherited, 
but fowls from weak ancestors fall a ready prey if the right conditions are 
presented. 

Tuberculosis cattle, and persons, too, are to be viewed with suspicion 
and avoided whenever possible. The danger is small, to be sure, but enough 
to call for good care in preventing the commencement of trouble. The 
better the general condition of your fowls, the less danger there is of con- 
sumption or tuberculosis appearing in your flock. 

Consumption is a disease limited to the lung tissues, but in a small 
proportion of cases is accompanied by a fetid diarrhoea. It is likely to 

36 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

have been preceded by either roup, bronchitis or pneumonia. The early 
symptom is not one that would call your attention to the seat of the dis- 
ease. It is simple weakness, apparently without cause. Perhaps in a 
week's time there appears some slight trouble in brcathinpj, a little short- 
ness of breath on exercising, or some roughness of respiration when on 
the roost at night. There is no real cough. The irritation produces a 
changed jerky breathing that must be heard to be known. It makes you 
wonder whether there is not some foreign body in the nasal passage, that 
obstructs the movement of the air. As weeks and months go by, the fowl 
stops laying, becomes thin and light, more and more pale in comb and 
wattles. Indigestion increases, the food passing from the bowels in much 
the same state as when swallowed. Left to take its own course, the fowl 
finally dies, thin, light in weight, and pale in color of skin. Any bird in 
this or an}' similar condition ought not to be allowed to live out its days. 
The early use of the hatchet prevents the waste of time and food, as well 
as reducing the danger to the well members of the place. 

TUBERCULOSIS 

Tuberculosis is a disease more rapid and intense than consumption. 
Consumption has little increase of temperature, while tuberculosis has a 
persistent rise of bodily heat. Tuberculosis fowls present a constant de- 
crease in weight and the difficulty in breathing is quite manifest. In con- 
nection with every case of tuberculosis there is to be found at work as a 
factor in the disease a germ — bacillus — and this germ must be present to 
confirm the diagnosis. There have appeared cases enough of tuberculosis 
in poultry yards, apparently contracted from sick cows, to warrant our 
being on the watch for all sources of possible trouble. Even a case of a 
single bird "going light" should be quarantined as a possible source of future 
trouble. 

Supi)Ose you find you have a case on hand resembling the trouble we 
have under consideration. Your best plan will be to kill and burn the 
sick fowl. It is not safe to depend upon burying the bird. It may be- 
come exposed through the efforts of some dogs and become an object of 
danger. The sick birds disposed of, then turn your attention to the pro 
tection of the well members of the flock. Clean out at once all litter from 
the houses and yards. Take off a thin layer of soil from the earth floors 
of the pens and a little from the bare yards near the houses. Brush up 
the inside of all the buildings and remove all the dust and cobwebs from 
the windows. Whitewash in a thorough manner the woodwork of the build- 
ings, not forgetting the roosts and droppings boards. Last of all, scald 
every drinking and feed vessel. 

If you have the time and inclination to doctor some of the cases in 
the beginning of the disease, you will find the use of good tonics and cod 
liver oil to give fair results in a small proportion of the sick fowls. The 
chances are about equal, however, that you have had indigestion to con- 
tend with rather than real tuberculosis. Birds that are really tubercu- 
lous seldom are cured by any treatment. Any good emulsion of cod liver 

37 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

oil mixed with the mash will help nourish the fowl. For a tonic there is 
nothing better than the arsenate of iron in pill form, 1-50 grain each, twice 
a day. If the breathing is at all labored the use of the syrup of hydriodic 
acid, five drops three times a day in mash, will do much to relieve the con- 
dition. 

The ravages of tuberculosis in the human family are too patent to 
ignore its gravity in the lower creation, and the poultry fancier will best 
consult his own interest in studiously avoiding breeding from or purchas- 
ing birds of scrofulous or tuberculous taint and in the event of the disease 
manifesting itself, to dispose of his stock, thoroughly disinfect his grounds, 
and after a sufficient interval import fresh and pure blood. 



GAPES 

A PARASITIC DISEASE COMMON IN MANY SECTIONS 
AND ONE THAT IS FATAL TO THOUSANDS OF SMALL 
CHICKS ANNUALLY— WHAT THE DISEASE IS— MEANS 
OF PREVENTION AND HOW TO CURE IT 

P. T WOODS, M. D. 

THE disease known as gapes has been prevalent among poultry in 
this country for more than 100 years. Had the poultry raisers 
of 100 years ago had the advantages now afforded modern poul- 
trymen, by the poultry press and government bulletins, for the 
study of poultry diseases and the best means of treatment, the 
disease might have been nearly, if not completely, stamped out by the ex- 
ercise of proper sanitary measures and thorough use of rehable disinfect- 
ants. 

Gapes is a parasitic disease caused by the presence of worms in the 
windpipes of young chickens and fowls. The worm is called the Synga- 
mus trachealis. On hasty examination, it appears to be a small, reddish, 
forked worm, and is attached to the mucous lining of the windpipe by the 
heads of both branches of the fork. In reality, the fork is made up of two 
worms, the male and the female. The main branch and trunk, about half 
an inch in length, the female worm; the lesser branch, about one-fifth of an 
inch long and usually permanently attached to the female worm, is the 
male. The worms attach themselves by the mouth to the lining of the 
windpipe, and suck the blood of the chick. 

Gapes prove very troublesome in many parts of the country, and many 
chickens die of it. Death may result from debility and loss of blood due 
to the presence of the worms, or a large number of worms may cause in- 
flammation and obstruction of the windpipe, and death from suffocation. 
The disease is most dangerous to chicks from one to four weeks old. It 
sometimes affects large chicks and has been found in adult fowls, but the 

38 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

presence of a few worms in the windpipe of a large strong, healthy cliick 
or adult bird seldom causes trouble to the bird, but it may prove a bad thing 
to the poultryman as a source of infection to tlie other birds. 

How the Disease is Spread 

The female worm does not lay her eggs; there are several thousand of 
eggs in the adult female, and when these are sufficiently developed, they 
escape by rupture of the body of the parent. These eggs may hatch and 
develop into perfect worms without leaving the windpipe of the affected 
bird, but as a rule, the adult worms and their eggs are coughed up and be- 
come a source of infection of other birds by contaminating the food and 
water. Frequently such infection ma\' take place through the drinking 
water. Well chicks may eat the worms coughed up by the sick ones, or 
may get the eggs in food or drink, and becom.e infected with gapes. Many 
wild birds are liable to gapes, and their excrement dropped in the chicken 
yard ma}' prove a source of infection. Eggs of the gape worm have been 
found in the droppings of infected birds. Some authorities credit the 
common earthworm and garden slug, when found in ground occupied by 
diseased birds, with harboring the embryos and eggs of the gape worm 
and so keeping up infection. When eggs or embryo gape worms are eaten, 
only a small number of embryos find their way to the windpipe and it is 
probable that man}' are killed and digested or are expelled in the droppings 
to become a fresh source of trouble. One small forked worm, if allowed 
to go unmolested, is sufficient to infect a large flock of chicks, and ruin the 
ground for chicken raising for a long time, unless the ground is thoroughly 
disinfected. 

Sy mpto ms 

The symptoms of gapes are frequent gaping, sneezing, a whistling 
cough with discharge of mucus and worms, dumpishness, weakness and 
drooping wings. When badly affected, the bird shakes its head frequently, 
gapes and coughs as if suffocating, droops and is not able to keep up with 
the rest of the flock, and stands in "dumpish" position with eyes closed, 
wings drooped, mouth open and tongue protruding. 

Prevention 

The most desirable method of combating any disease is to adopt and 
persist in some reliable means of prevention. There is a cause for all ail- 
ments. Unless you remove the cause you cannot cure the disease. If the 
cause is removable, a serious outbreak of the disease can be prevented 
Ijy proper hygienic and sanitary measures, which make the cause much less 
liable to appear: or, if the measures adopted are sufficiently thorough, the 
cause may be prevented from putting in an appearance. Gapes is caused 
by the small red worms and their progeny. These parasitic worms must 
be gotten rid of. 

In all sections of the country where gapes are known to be prevalent, 
small chicks should not be grown on free range. They must be confined 

39 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

in moderate sized yards which can easily be thoroughly disinfected. The 
fences of these yards should be portable, preferably panels of wire fenc- 
ing which can be readily moved from place to place. The chicks should 
be moved to new ground frequently. Before the chicks are put in a yard 
or run the ground should be thoroughly disinfected, either by a heavy 
top dressing of air slaked lime plowed under, or, drenching with a two per 
cent sulphuric acid solution with turning over of the soil afterwards. This 
must be done both before the chicks use the ground and immediately after 
they are moved from it. When possible, to do so, it will be well to start 
a little crop of oats, rye or other quick growing grain in the yards or runs 
before the chicks use them. 

The coops and boxes used by the chicks must be thoroughly cleaned 
and kept clean. They should be well whitewashed on the inside with good 
hot whitewash twice a month during the chick season, and the wash will 
be still more effective if a tablespoonful of creolin is added to each bucket- 
ful of whitewash just before applying. The interior of all coops and boxes 
should be exposed to the sun and air for several hours every day when the 
sun shines. Coops or boxes having removable roofs are most desirable, 
so that the whole interior can be given a thorough sunning. Dampness 
and all accumulations of filth must be avoided if the disease is to be pre- 
vented. 

Treat ment 

The most satisfactory treatment is prevention of contagion, com- 
bined with extraction of the worms from the infected chicks. All sick 
birds should be removed to quarters apart from the well ones. All coops 
and runs where infected birds have been should be thoroughly disinfected. 
The coops should have a thorough application of hot whitewash. The 
ground of runs should be well lined with air slaked lime, spaded up and 
should be sprinkled with one of the following solutions: A two per cent 
solution of sulphuric acid in water; or two ounces of copperas (sulphate of 
iron) dissolved in a bucket of water; or a solution of permanganate of pot- 
assium in water, half an ounce of the crystals in a barrel of water; or a strong 
solution of creolin, two tablespoonfuls in each gallon of water. 

The ground should be well sprinkled with one of the above solutions, 
after infected chicks have been removed, then plow or spade and sprinkle 
again. Repeat this disinfection whenever infected chicks have been run- 
ning on the ground. Scald all di-inking vessels used by sick birds, and be 
sure that the water used is boiling. If there are many earthworms and 
slugs in ground which has been occupied by chicks with gapes, get rid of 
the worms with one of the patented worm exterminators sold by nearly 
all seedmen. Always burn all chicks which die of the gapes, and whenever 
you find gape worms, or extract them from sick chicks, be sure to burn 
the worms. Disinfect all droppings. Earthworms do not cause gapes, 
but may become contaminated with the eggs or embryonic gape worms 
and so become a source of infection in ground where the disease has existed. 

A small piece of copperas placed in the drinking water is said to pre- 

40 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

vent contagion. Tincture of assafoetida, a teaspoonful in a quart of water, 
is used for the same purpose, and is said to have a curative action. Three 
draehnis of salicylate of soda in a quart of drinking water is also recom- 
mended as a preventive. 

How to Remove the Worms 

Extracting the worms from the windpipe is absolutely necessary to 
effect a cure. The operation is simple and only requires patience and a 
delicate touch. A loop of horsehair, stripped feather tip or one of the 
wire gape worm extractors, is the only instrument needed. Prepare a 
solution of one teaspoonful of creolin in a pint of cold water. Dip tlie 
extractor in this both before and after using. The operator should sit in a 
comfortable position in a strong light with all things convenient for the oper- 
ation, the affected chicks in a coop by his side and an empty coop to receive 
the treated chicks near at hand. 

Hold the chick firmly in the left hand with its neck well stretched, 
and head firmly between the thumb and fore-finger. The mouth should 
be open and the neck held straight out from the body. 

With the chick held firmly and neck well stretched, dip the extractor 
in the creolin solution, shake off any excess of fluid, insert the extractor 
gently into the windpipe and withdraw it with a slightly twisting motion. 
This will'bring out most of the worms*and any which remain will be killed 
by contact with the creolin solution. Be gentle and keep j'our hand steady. 
You may strangle a chick or two at first, but with a little patience you w'ill 
acquire skill and be able to treat the chickens easily and rapidly. Wash 
off all worms removed, in the creolin solution, when through burn them 
or bury them in a deep hole covering them with quick lime. Gapes cannot 
be cured unless you remove and kill the worms. Do not drop any of the 
solution down the chick's windpipe; such carelessness may kill the chick. 

A little practice will soon make a skillful operator of a novice. A few- 
chicks may be killed in operating, but it is better to kill them in an endeavor 
to relieve them than to allow them to die from the disease. 

Some Common Remedies 

Another means of getting the worms out of the chick's windpipe, and 
one that has proven successful in some cases, is to confine a number of chicks 
in a shallow box, and sift powdered air-slaked hme over them until they 
cough up the worms. 

A number of remedies are recommended for the internal treatment 
of this disease. The following are credited with curing a number of cases: 
Thirty drops of camphor spirits mixed with sugar and dissolved in a pint 
of drinking water, no other drink allowed the sick birds. Half a grain 
of camphor in pill form given twice daily. GarUc fed freely, either chop- 
ped and fed plain or mixed with food. Five grains each of powdered assa- 
foetida and yellow gentian, given in soft food daily. 

If possible, avoid raising chicks on ground that was occupied last sea- 
son by chicks having gapes. In any case, be sure that all coops and ground 

41 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

which have at any time been used by infected birds, are thoroughly disin- 
fected before poultry is allowed. to occupy them. Gapes affect all kinds 
of domestic fowls and many varieties of wild birds. 

LIME DUST FOR GAPES 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

Gapes have been written about since the first of the last century. The 
national agricultural department, fifteen years ago, employed Dr. H. D. 
Walker, of New York, to study the gape worm. As part of the report of 
his labors, we are told that newly hatched embryos introduced into the 
windpipe of a chick gain full size in eight days. That eggs must have a 
temperature of above thirty-two to grow and are destroyed by freezing. 

The parasite that is the cause of gapes varies in length from one-eighth 
to one-half inch, and is threadlike in appearance. Its color varies accord- 
ing to the amount of the bird's blood that it may have taken at the time of 
examination. It may be pale or even bright red. Often you may think 
you have found a double-headed worm, but careful looking will show you 
that what seemed at first one worm with two heads is really two worms 
closely united for breeding. The worm usually found in the windpipe is 
half an inch long and its diameter tli^it of a medium sized sewing needle. 

Sy mpto ms 

The symptoms vary according to the amount of irritation and loss of 
nutrition. The early symptom is a little cough (hack), as though some 
dust had slipped into the windpipe, and the bird was trying to eject it. As 
the woVms increase in size and number, their presence inflames the lining 
membrane of the windpipe, increasing the amount of normal secretion as 
well as thickening the lining itself. The increase of irritation, the flow of 
mucus, and the swollen membrane, all work to change the character of the 
breathing, giving us the gasping or gaping that names the disease. The 
bird goes about with open mouth, as if he had taken a mouthful of too hot 
food. In some cases the mucus secreted is so plentiful as to partially pre- 
vent the passing of air, and in others it is drawn into the bronchial tubes, 
often causing the death of the chick. The inflammation itself may extend 
to the lungs and so kill the bird. 

Treat ment 
The most common and satisfactory treatment is the use of lime dust. 
The fowls are shut in a barrel or box, so arranged as to allow inspection of 
them while subjected to the process, and air-slaked Ume is allowed to settle 
slowly through the air of the chamber. This is done by having part of the 
top of the box or barrel covered with bagging so the dust can be admitted 
slowly as well as finely. The Ume irritates the linings of the windpipe as 
well as those of the finer tubes of the chest and its use is followed by cough- 
ing and sneezing. This dislodges the worms, and repeated coughing brings 
up some of them. Care must be taken to limit the amount of 

42 



HEAD, THROAT AND LTJNGS 

lime used, and air must be admitted in fair quantities. Too little air or 
too much lime long administered will cause a serious inflammation of the 
mucous membrane of the air passage. 

If gapes is introduced into your plant you should plan to raise all chicks 
the next season on ground that has not been used for poultry purposes for 
several years. Plow and plant to some hoed crop all yards or ground that 
have been used by infected birds. After two years such land will probably 
be safe to use again for poultry. 

You are never sure you have the gapes unless you can find one or more 
of the worms. It is decidedly risky to treat for gapes unless yoii know you 
have that disease to contend with. A bird may gape or appear to have 
something in its throat and yet not have the "gape-worm" in its windpipe. 
There is little, if an}^, disturbance of the general system in the commence- 
ment of gapes, while in bronchitis or pneumonia there is some rise in tem- 
perature. To use lime dust on birds sick with pneumonia or bronchitis is 
to do that which is likely to kill the bird. Better no treatment than thought- 
less diagnosis of disease and an off-hand use of strong remedies. 



LIMBERNECK 

A RECORD OF EXPERIMENTS THAT SHOWS HOW IT 
IS CAUSED AND HOW IT MAY BE PREVENTED 

W. W. KULP 

DT'RIXG the hot months many fowls and chicks are killed by what is 
called limberneck. The name describes their condition, for their 
necks are surely limber, but it gives no hint of the cause. The 
cause is ptomaine poisoning. 
Because of lack of knowledge as to the cause, people do not know how 
best to prevent the trouble. Many know that it is noticed after the fowls 
have eaten maggots and the statement is made that maggots do not die 
when eaten and, being alive in the fowl, cause the trouble. This cannot be 
true, for maggots are a natural food for fowls; thej- are dangerous only when 
they contain poison from decaying flesh. The poison, if present in the mag- 
gots, soon stops the processes in the stomach, and the maggots may live long- 
er than they would were the digestive organs of the fowl able to do their 
proper work. 

The first I ever saw of this trouble was after 1 had been in the jjoultry 
business about fifteen years. I could not understand it, but thought it 
looked like the eflfects of poison. I examined several dead fowls and found 
all their internal organs appai'cntly healthy. The pupils of their eyes 
were enlarged, as is usually the case when any animal is poisoned. I soon 
found that the trouble was caused by the chicks eating maggots on a dead 
hen. As it was my first experience, I thought I could prevent a recurrence 

43 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

of the difficulty by finding all the dead ones; but in spite of much hunting 
I would miss one occasionally, and a few chicks would be lost in conse- 
quence. 

Some tipie after my fowls had the first siege of it, it started again, but 
I prevented serious loss by confining my birds in their yards for ten days. 

I let two well-grown hens eat about fifteen maggots each from a de- 
caying carcass one afternoon. By morning they were staggering about 
and could not eat. In two days they were all right again with no treat- 
ment. I expected they would free themselves of the poison for I have 
seen worse -cases get well. I wanted to prove fully that it was not a germ 
disease; if it was, they would have been worse. Each fowl is affected ac- 
cording to the number of poisoned maggots that it eats. If the number is 
small, it i^ but slightly affected, and soon recovers, but if it eats a crop full, 
it dies in a short time. 

I have known cases where a fowl would eat enough to make it sick for 
two days and still recover. 

Last summer I wanted to learn some of the effects of maggots and de- 
caying flesh on fowls and chicks and tried to produce limberneck by placing 
dead fowls about; but the chicks only grew faster, the weather was cool and 
and the carcasses did not decay fast enough to become poisonous. In Sep- 
tember I found a Leghorn hen dead in one of the houses and put her on the 
tin roof, intending to bury her in the morning, but I forgot all about it until 
a few days later, when I saw three or four dead hens and many more sick 
ones. Then I knew at once that the dead hen was the cause. The fowls 
that were dead had eaten maggots from the carcass during the afternoon 
and died during the following night. About as many more died the next 
day. I now had more experience, but I paid more for it than I had intended 
to. 

Treat ment 

When sick fowls are discovered give any medicine that you may have 
that will counteract the poison and assist in throwing if off. Frequently 
cholera cure will do the work. There is no necessity for treating the well 
fowls for the trouble is not contagious. The best way to save them is to 
pen them up for ten days and bj^ that time the maggots will have eaten 
the carcass which caused the trouble and will have gone into the ground. 

LIMBERNECK IN FOWLS AND CHICKS 
P. T. WOODS. M. D. 

Limberneck, strictly speaking, is a symptom of a diseased condition 
rather than a distinct poultry disease. It is common in all parts of the 
country and easily recognized by the peculiar appearance and the partial 
paralysis of the neck muscles, which has given rise to the name limberneck. 

The bird practically loses all control of the neck muscles and stands or 
squats with its neck either limp or arched, the crown of the head resting 
on the ground between its feet. Sometimes the bird is able to lift its head 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

off the ground by making a strong effort, but in every case the head hangs 
downward with the neck arched like an inverted U in a peculiar fashion. 
In some cases the symptom assumes a different guise and the bird instead 
of having what is known as limberncck develops the condition known as 
"wry-neck," a twisting backward of the head and neck upon the body, 
the head sometimes being turned almost entirelj- around. 



Both of these ailments arise from similar causes. In the majority 
of cases they are due to intestinal irritation of some sort. The wry neck 
is more likely to be a symptom of epileptic disease or direct brain and nerve 
irritation, while limberneck more frequently occurs accompanying attacks 
of colic, acute indigestion, irritation from intestinal parasites (worms), 
crop inflammation or other similar troubles. Where not due to direct brain 
or nerve disease such as epilepsy, a hereditary tendency to a disordered con- 
dition of the nervous system, the disease is easily remedied. 

The most frequent causes of acute indigestion and colic are indiscre- 
tions in feeding. Impure meat food or a too one-sided ration is a com- 
mon cause of limberneck, resulting from acute indigestion or colic in small 
chicks. Fright and over-ex,ertion from fighting or being chased are also 
causes. 

In chicks and fowls of all ages putrid meat, feeding upon large quan- 
tities of maggots, or eating indigestible and poisonous substance are common 
causes of limberneck. Where the birds either young or old have been fed 
raw meat in any considerable quantity or have been running on old con- 
taminated ground that has not been properly renovated, worm parasites 
are a common cause of this trouble. The disease may be prevented by 
careful feeding and the removal of all sources of infection. 

Treat ment 

The following treatment will be found effective in the majority of 
cases, and is undoubtedly the best for regular routine treatment. 

When the case is first discovered administer a small dose of oil of tur- 
pentine mixed with sweet oil. For small chicks from two to ten drops of 
turpentine mixed with an equal amount of sweet oil will be found to be 
sufficient according to age, while adult fowls will take from one to two tea- 
spoonfuls of oil of turpentine mixed with an equal quantity of sweet oil. 
Keep the bird warm and quiet. 

Fifteen minutes to half an hour after the dose of oil of turpentine give 
warm sweet milk to which has been added a little ginger. Make in the same 
manner that j'ou would prepare ginger tea for a youngster who had an attack 
of green apple colic, one teaepoonful of finely powdered pure ginger thor- 
oughly mixed with half a cup of hot milk, and barely sweetened with a little 
sugar. For small chicks give one-half to one teaspoonful every hour or 
two. Adult fowls may have one to two tablespoonfuls at a dose. 

46 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Another good remedy for adult birds is to use a pill made as follows: 
Equal parts pure lard, cayenne pepper, powdered ginger and mustard. 
Rub all together until thoroughly mixed, then divide into pills or slugs 
the size of a kidney bean. Give one of these pills or slugs at a dose and 
repeat in three hours if necessary. 

The bird will usually show signs of improvement at once and in from 
ten to twenty-four hours will be ready to go back to a regular food ration, 
which should consist at first of a little thoroughly cooked boiled rice lightly 
seasoned with salt. Follow this with feedings of raw potato, raw beets 
and a limited supply of dry grain and pure beef scrap. The trouble will 
seldom recur where due to colic or other digestive disturbances, provided 
care is taken to supply a plentiful am.ount of raw vegetable food in addition 
to the meat food and grains. 

Where the above treatment fails to act the trouble is usually due to 
some serious nerve or brain disease, and it will be best to kill the bird, but 
do not despair of saving a chick or fowl affected with limberneck until you 
have first given this method of treatment a careful trial. 

PIP 

Pip, is sometimes a dry condition of the tongue appearing in several 
diseases of the air passages, such as roup, catarrh, bronchitis and pneu- 
monia. It is a symptom of disease, not a disease of itself. Pip, or the 
dry state of the tongue, is produced by the rapid passing over the tongue 
of feverish breath combined with increased temperature of the body. The 
natural moisture is removed and secretion diminished. The tip of the 
tongue being thin, shows the change plainly, becoming hard and dry. Let 
alone the dry covering or hard membrane; to try to remove it is to inflame 
the tongue and accompHsh no good result. Study the whole bird, finding 
out the trouble underlying this one symptom, treating the real disease. 
If you must do something for the tongue, paint it twice a day with glycerine. 

Mr. Lewis Wright, the author of "The Book of Poultry," advances 
the opinion that "there are occasional cases of a real epidemic of pip, which 
cause death unless relieved, of which this is the distinguishing symptom, 
and with no "dry" mouth at all. Three outbreaks in different yards have 
come under our notice, and in two of them the scale at the tip of the tongue 
was nearly as thick and quite as hard, as the nib of a quill pen, while the 
edges were almost as sharp as a knife. The fatal results we believe to be 
due to the soreness produced by these keen edges quite preventing the fowl 
from swallowing. It was unmistakably 'about' in these yards. If a fowl 
apparently well in the main, is seen to pick up and then drop its corn, the 
mouth should be examined. If such a hard and sharp scale (very different 
from the ordinary rather hard and sharp tip of a fowl's tongue) be found, 
it should be removed by the thumb-nail, and the spot dressed a few times 
with honey and borax. Give soft food for a day or two, and a couple of 
morning doses of 20 grains Epsom salts, and the bird will speedily be well." 

46 



INJURIES AND DISEASES OF THE COMB 

THE TREATMENT OF INJURIES AND FROST-BITE 
AND THE SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT OF WHITE 
COMB. ECZEMA. BLACK ROT AND FUNGOID 

I DR. N. W. SANBORN 

NEARLY all so-called diseases of the comb come in connection with 
some other disease or condition. I suppose they are commonly 
classed as diseases because of the prominent position the comb 
sj'mptoms hold. 
It is well to remember that a change in the appearance of the comb 
indicates a disturbance in some other part of the bird. If to the comb 
symptoms are added similar changes in wattles and ear-lobes, you are to 
understand that the case is all the more dangerous, and needs more careful 
and immediate attention. 

The comb tells quite a storj^ of what is going on in the organs of the 
whole body. Its appearance is as helpful to the poultry keeper as the tongue 
of a human patient is to the observing phj'sician. 

The normal condition of the comb presents that healthy look that 
wc all so like to see in our birds, and that is a sign of good bodily condi- 
tion. As poultrymen we may call that color *^bright red." Any devia- 
tion from this red, whether it be to darker or to a lighter hue, is an indi- 
cation of changed action in the workings of the organs, or to a change in 
the vitality of the whole bird. The light colored comb shows an anaemic 
state of the bird, while the dark (purple) comb indicates the opposite — 
Plethwa. One may be a sign of under-feeding; the other that of cramming 
or over-feeding. 

INJURIES 

Injuries to the comb and wattles arc more or less common, and are 
usually the result of fighting or from getting caught in wire or lath divis- 
ions of the house or yard. Sometimes a thin comb is nearly torn from the 
head or a wattle is badly slit. To avoid deformity the parts should be 
brought closely together and stitched with a needle and fine white silk. 
The blood supply is so good that even though three-fourths the part is 
torn, a little stitching will result in the part healing and presenting a fine 
appearance as the result of careful work. Keep the fowl alone until the 
stitches can be cut and removed, thus preventing any picking by other 
fowls. Whenever the blood dries on the surface of the comb and you find 
other birds inclined to pick at it, put the specimen away by itself. It is 
easy to teach birds to pick under such conditions, and the habit is a bad 
one. The irritation to the sick fowl is also bad and delays healing, if indeed 
it does not undo the good you have done. For a sore comb or one that 

47 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

is slow in healing, apply an ointment of oleate of zinc one part to vaseline 
ten parts. This protects the sore parts and hastens the healing of the tears. 

FROST-BITE 

The appearance of frost-bite is much the same as that of black rot, 
but the bird does not lose its appetite and is nearly as lively as usual. The 
color of the comb or wattles is purple or black. The darker the color the 
more danger of the frozen part being lost. The more rapid the thawing 
of the part the more danger of serious results to the portion aiffected. 

Frost-bite is, of course, due to exposing the birds to too low a temper- 
ature or the long continued heat absorbing action of a zero breeze. Low 
vitality, from close houses or under-feeding, increases the danger, both of 
frost-bite and the after effects. 

The taller and thinner the comb the more it is exposed to the loss of 
heat, and the more care should be given to proper housing and yarding. 
A sudden drop of forty degrees in the night or the unexpected rise of a zero 
breeze, will catch our birds when we are unprepared. The best house and 
the best care will not prevent the appearance of a case now and then. 

If the trouble is seen before the frost has thawed out, put the bird in 
a room that will warm up slowly, letting the circulation begin slowly. Avoid 
a place where the bird can get into the direct sunlight or a room that is 
much above the freezing point. Even the holding of dry snow against the 
comb will help remove more slowly the frost of the parts. Having restored 
the circulation, or noticing the bird after it has thawed out, apply twice a 
day an ointment of vaseline, six tablespoonfuls, glycerine two tablespoon- 
fuls, turpentine one teaspoonful. This will help start into a healthy con- 
dition the blood circulation, of comb and wattles and at the same time 
reduce the swelling. An ointment of lard 2 ounces, quinine 1 ounce and ker- 
osene 3 ounces, (melting and incorporating all together), rubbed on with 
gentle friction, is said to cure even bad cases, if not left till altogether too 
late. 

WHITE COMB 

The disease manifests itself in the same location as fungoid, but pre- 
sents a different appearance. The first indication is the coming of little 
red or white points in the skin covering both comb and wattles. Usually 
these are white when noticed. The nearness to the skin causes an early 
breaking of the small gatherings: the contents proving to be thin, hght 
colored and quickly drying on the surface. This gives the parts affected 
a scurfy, whitish appearance. The movements of the bird loosen the dry 
flaky substance, and it comes off in little pieces of the size of bran. As 
the disease spreads to neck and face the irritation causes the feathers to 
drop out, adding to the disagreeable appearance. With the local symp- 
toms are to be noticed a paleness of all mucous surfaces, and a suggestion 
of weakness in all motions of the bird. 

48 



HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 

White comb is the result of long continued exposure to close air, little 
or no sunshine, and total absence of all green vegetable food. This points, 
of course, to the city cellars and shut-in town back yards. 

The cause suggests the ren^edy. Either give up the keeping of birds 
under such unhygienic conditions or remove them to pastures green, with 
sunny skies. A tonic of a little nux vomica may be helpful, but after all 
the best remedy is good food with proper care and housing. Oil the sore 
surfaces with an ointment made by mixing one part oleate of zinc and ten 
parts vaseline. Do this once a day until the eruption disappears. 

ECZEMA 

1 have sometimes thought there was no difference between eczema 
and "white comb," and yet we seldom see the two troubles in the same 
bird. Eczema is a disease manifesting itself in the skin, yet due to a con- 
stitutional cause. It is caused by the over-feeding of a highly nitrogenous 
ration, by lack of excretion, or from closely inbred birds of a rheumatic ten- 
dency. The disease is never passed by contact from bird to bird. It is 
not contagious. 

While eczema may appear on any part of the skin of the bird, the usual 
seat of the disease is the wattles. I am not sure but it appears at the same 
time on other parts of the bird, but being covered by feathers it does not 
attract our attention. On the wattles it attracts our notice by the appear- 
ing of fine white points. These are slightly raised and seem to have just 
the thin skin over them. They continue to increase in size, new points 
appearing, the contents becoming thinner and slightly lighter in color. 
When several "points" have united, the skin bursts, the fluid runs out, and 
dries on the surface, forming a scurfy crust. In severe cases the discharge 
lias been noticed to irritate the skin of the shanks and toes where it falls on 
them. Birds with eczema present a tired appearance and a marked loss of 
appetite. 

These cases need an improved diet. The mash should contain a good 
proportion of cut clover, green vegetables should be fed liberally, and there 
.should be very little meat fed in any form for weeks. Green cut bone, free 
from meat, will be helpful in building up the bird. 

One grain pill citrate of iron and quinine every morning and one grain of 
calomel at night for one week will help clear up the constitutional condition, and 
increase the health of the bird. 

Apply to the diseased wattles several times during the week the same 
ointment as recommended for "white comb." 

BLACK ROT 

This is a condition of the comb resulting from imperfect circulation 
of blood through it and is really evidence of the death of the tissue involved. 
It is a rare occasion when we meet black rot except in tall combed birds. 
.Vearly every case that has been examined after killing has shown some 
disease of the liver. It is probable that the comb symptoms are secondary 
to the real disease. 

49 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

The first indication of the approach of this trouble is a darkening of 
the color of the comb. The points only may be involved at first, or the 
purple hue may extend to the whole structure. From purple, the color 
changes to blue and then to black. If the bird in other respects is healthy, 
he may live long enough to have the diseased portion separate from the 
healthy portion, leaving an unsightly stump. The diseased portion of 
the comb may be either dry or moist, "dry rot" or "moist rot" according 
to the case. In connection with an inflamed, dying comb, there is nearly 
a complete loss of appetite and a looseness of bowels. The bird shows 
little desire for exercise and remains on the roost or under the droppings 
boards for hours at a time. 

The varied circumstances under which cases of "black rot" have been 
noted give little idea as to the cause of the disease. In a few cases there 
is a history of a sudden chill and in others the houses were close and damp. 

If the disease gets a good start, treatment does little good. The combs 
should be painted twice a day with a lotion of one ounce of water, one-half 
ounce of glycerine, and carbolic acid crystals, two grains. Keep the bird 
in a dry, sunny, clean room, giving pure water and be sure that green food, 
in some form, such as dandelion or cabbage leaves or onions, is within reach 
at all times. The adding one-half teaspoonful muriate of ammonia to each 
pint of drinking water will help relieve the congested liver. 

FUNGOID 

This disease attacks birds when exposed to previous cases, and seems 
to break out also in flocks that have been fed a ration rich in starches. It 
is easily passed from bird to bird, and is seen in its worst aspect when the 
birds are sufi"ering from a low state of vitahty. 

Fungoid presents indications of a local rather than a general disease. 
It appears to affect only lightly the workings of the bodily functions. The 
full force of the disease seems to show itself in the comb and wattles. The 
first indication is the appearance of little bunches of hard substances under 
the skin covering the wattles and comb, abolit the size of bird shot, and 
feeling to the touch like shot, and no change from normal in color of skin 
over the swellings. In a few days these shotlike bodies soften, flatten a 
little, break through and discharge through the opening in the skin, a watery 
straw-colored fluid. 

There may be a dozen of the discharging openings. In a day or two 
there are likely to appear near these openings or ulcers other shot-like bodies 
that follow the course of the first lot. Crop after crop of these may ap- 
pear until the comb and wattles are closely covered with them showing 
various stages of the disease. The discharge darkens sHghtly as it dimin- 
ishes in quantity, drying on the surface, and p resenting a disagreeable ap- 
pearance to the sight. The dry surface is itchy to the bird and it is sure to 
do more or less scratching, causing more irritation and some bleeding. In 
a third of the cases the disease spreads to the skin of the head and neck, in- 
creasing the size of these parts and presenting a picture disagreeable to any 
lover of poultry. 

$0 



HEAD, THROAT AND U'NCS 

If this, disease has been allowed lo grow into the condition last de- 
scribed, little treatment will avail. The fowls are probably thin, witli no 
appetite, and present the appearance of tired out birds. Kill and bury 
every one of the long continued cases, and give your attention to new cases. 
The legs should be tied together, yet loose enough to allow walking, while 
close enough to prevent any scratching of the inflamed surfaces. Wash as 
often as you can the whole surface of comb and wattles with a solution of 
carbolic acid crystals, five grains to a pint of water. This lessens itching 
and diminishes the danger of the spread of the infection. The food should 
be highly nourishing and fed warm. Of course every sick bird should be 
removed from the flock to lessen the danger of exposure. This disease, 
introduced into a flock of healthy birds, runs a more rapid course than when 
the stock is low in vitality. 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

CHOLERA AND DIARRHOEAS 

HOW TO DIAGNOSE THE DISEASES ACCOMPANIED 
BY LOOSENESS OF THE BOWELS— MEANS OF PRE- 
VENTION—SYMPTOMS. REMEDIES AND TREATMENT 

P. T. WOODS. M. D. 

DIARRHOEA is the result of disturbances of the normal action of 
the digestive organs, and is a frequent symptom in many diseases 
of poultry. Many simple ailments of poultry are accompanied 
by a "looseness of the bowels," or diarrhoea. It is common in 
many sections of the country to misname all severe diarrhoea, cholera, par- 
ticularly those in which the excrement has a greenish color. To this fact 
is due the belief that fowl cholera is a very common disease. Fowl cholera 
does not very frequently attack domestic poultry if the fowls are kept under 
reasonably sanitary conditions. It is, however, sufficiently prevalent to 
warrant a wholesome fear of it and to make necessary precautionary meas- 
ures to prevent its appearance in a flock. The poultryman should bear in 
mind that all diseases accompanied by a troublesome diarrhoea are not nec- 
essarily cholera. 

FOWL CHOLERA 

The cholera of domestic poultry is a virulent, usually fatal, contagious 
disease. It is caused by infection with the specific germ of the disease. 
It attacks all varieties of domestic fowls, and has been observed in wild 
birds habitating an infected district. It is more common in foreign coun- 
tries than in the United States. When it once makes its appearance in a 
flock, the disease is difficult, almost impossible, to control where the birds 
have free range. Where fowls are kept in semi-confinement, the disease 
may be readily stamped out, if prompt measures are taken as soon as it is 
discovered. Infection usually takes place through food or drink which has 
been fouled by the discharges of the diseased birds. A male bird having 
cholera in the early stages may transmit the disease to a flock of hens when 
serving them. The germs sometimes gain entrance to the body by the in- 
halation of dust in infected coops, which have not been properly disinfected, 
or by inoculation of wounds with the germs contained in discharges which 
have fouled the feet, claws, and beaks of the birds. The blood and raw 
flesh of diseased birds will, if eaten by well fowls, transmit the disease to 
them. When the disease is present in a neighborhood, pigeons, sparrows 
and wild birds may spread the contagion. The disease may be introduced 
by the purchase of an infected bird. For this reason, all new birds should 
be quarantined for two weeks (particularly in warm weather), until it is 

52 



TPIE INTESTINES AND CROP 

certain that they are free from disoaso, before thcj- arc permitted to run with 
the home flock. On no account should any diseiised bird be allowed to con- 
taminate the home flock through carelessness or neglect in quarantining 
new arrivals. This rule applies to all poultry diseases and to infection with 
lice and mites as well.. Always be sure that a bird is healthy before you per- 
mit it to run with well fowls. 

Cholera makes its appearance in a flock in from a few days to nearly 
three weeks after infection with the germ. The length of lime for its ap- 
pearance and the severity of the early symptoms depend largely on the 
susceptibility and condition of the bird exposed to contagion. 

Sy mptoms and Diagnosis of Cholera 
Loss of appetite, great thrist; drinks water eagerly until it cannot 
retain the water in the crop, and spills it whenever head is lowered. Bird 
has high fever, and if the bulb of a thermometer is placed close to the flesh 
under the shoulder, it will often register a temperature of 108 to 110 de- 
grees. Legs hot and dry. The crop is usually distended with food which 
cannot pass on, owing to paralysis of that organ. The bird shows a dis- 
position to sleep, bunches itself in a dumpy ball of ruffled feathers, with wings 
drooped, and avoids the rest of the flock. The comb is pale, almost white; 
face and wattles appear bloodless, eyes are dull and mostly closed. 
The bird loses strength and flesh very rapidly. Frequently an attempt 
to move results in the bird falling unable to rise again. Diarrhoea is al- 
ways present, and is one of the chief symptoms. At first there is a slight 
looseness of the bowels; that part of the excrement which is in health pure 
white, becomes yellowish or yellowish green. Copious diarrhoea of glairy 
mucus follows rapidly, and it may be frothy and streaked with yellow and 
green. The droppings are voided frequently, and vary from deep j-cllow- 
ish color to a mottled green and yellow, becoming later a deep, bluish green 
or grass green color. The excrement is thin and often frothy. The vent 
frequently appears raw and scalded b}'^ the excrement. Feathers about the 
vent are soiled and caked with the discharges. Death usually takes place 
in a few days after the appearance of the first symptoms of sickness. Con- 
vulsions frequently precede death, the bird appearing to be in great agony, 
often uttering sharp cries of pain. 

Some cases appear in a mild form, and merge into a chronic infectious 
diarrhoea; all such should be killed and cremated. Examination of the 
body after death shows great wasting of flesh. Pale face and comb. Full 
crop, inflamed and discolored intestines. Liver greatly enlarged and soft; 
filled with dark blood. Gall bladder distended, contents thick and dark 
greenish. Kidneys and the small tubes leading from them arc usually 
filled with yellow or yellowish-green masses. Ulcerations in and about the 
vent. The spleen is about normal size. 

The chief symptoms to depend on in diagnosing cholera are: A rapidly 
fatal, wasting disease, accompanied by copious, yellowish or deep blue green 
diarrhoea. Frequent discharge of excrement. Pale face, comb and wat- 
tles. Sleepiness which may last until death. Infection of a large number 

53 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

of birds in one flock. The presence of the disease may be determined posi- 
tively by the discovery of the oval shaped cholera germ in the blood and 
excrement by microscopical examination. If you are convienent to your state 
experiment station, the officers will gladly make a microscopical examination 
of the blood and excrement for you. 

Prevention and Treatment of Cholera 

Medicinal treatment for true cholera is of little value. The disease 
is so rapidly fatal that it is rarely discovered until too late to attempt treat- 
ment. No attempt to treat birds sick with the cholera had better be made 
unless they are very valuable. For the safety of the rest of the flock, they 
should be strangled and cremated. No particle of the flesh or blood of the 
diseased bird should be permitted where a fowl might get it, and so become 
infected. 

The treatment is mainly preventive. Observe cleanliness and the usual 
common sense rules of keeping poultry. Quarantine all new birds brought 
home from shows. Do not use eggs for hatching unless you know they are 
from healthy stock. In hot weather, when diarrhoea is prevalent in the 
neighborhood, do not feed eggs to fowls without first thoroughly cooking 
them. Keep wild carrion birds off the premises by use of some ''scare 
crow" device. 

I had an experience with the disease in southern New Jersey several 
years ago which gave me ample opportunity to study it, and at the same 
time was an experience which I do not care to have repeated. In this case 
the disease was traced to two probable sources. We were then buying 
large quantities of eggs for hatching from collectors, and at the time an 
epidemic of cholera broke out in an adjoining township, the nearest case 
being six miles from the farm. It was our custom to take the infertile eggs 
from the incubators and boil them up for the stock. Through carelessness 
on the part of some one a quantity of these eggs were mixed raw with the 
mash food, which received only a slight scalding. Under ordinary condi- 
tions no evil would have resulted, but it so happened that some of these 
eggs had been collected in the district where fowl cholera was epidemic. 
At the time we did not know of the epidemic until birds were affected. A 
considerable number of birds eating this mash contracted cholera, but the 
majority eating of it did not show any symptoms of the disease. The other 
possible source of our trouble, and to my mind the most probable source, 
was the presence of a large number of turkey buzzards flying to and from 
the infected section. I foimd several buzzards apparently affected with the 
disease. It was only by prompt recognition of the disease, careful isolation 
of all suspected birds, thorough disinfection, and by killing and cremating 
all birds showing advanced symptoms of the disease, that we were able to 
stamp it out effectually with only comparatively small loss. 

As soon as the disease is discovered, establish a pest house remote 
from the other poultry buildings, a place that can be easily and thoroughly 
disinfected. Isolate all suspected cases in the pest house as soon as you 

54 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

ran find them. Ciive these birds a few drops of creolin in their drinkinji 
water (just enough to turn it faintly milky), or give them drinking water 
in whicli has been disolved one one-tenth of a grain tablet of corrosive sublimate 
to the quart of water. A good home remedj' in any severe diarrhoea, and 
often in mild cases of cholera, is to drop twenty to thirty drops of spirits 
of camphor on sugar and dissolve the whole in a pint of water; place this 
before the sick birds and allow no other drink. 

All birds which show marked symptoms of the disease had better be 
killed and cremated at once. This is safest and best. Kill them by strang- 
ling or by a sharp blow with a blunt club, breaking the neck. Do not draw 
blood, as the blood is infectious, and you do not want to spill it. If they 
bleed, scrape up all blood and burn with the body, and disinfect the place 
where it fell. Rake up and burn all litter used in houses or runs occupied 
by infected birds. Spray the runs and all parts of the buildings with a 
strong solution of creolin, or a one per cent solution of sulphuric acid in 
water. Do not use any litter until you are sure that the disease is eradi- 
cated. Thoroughly disinfect everything that could possibly be contami- 
nated by the infected fowls, and repeat this as often as j'ou find a new case. 
The runs or yards should l)e thoroughly disinfected and should be ploughed 
up often. 

Some of the quarantined birds may recover without other medicine 
than that advised for the drinking water as before mentioned. The pro- 
portion of creolin is about one teaspoonful to an ordinary wooden bucket- 
ful of drinking water. I prefer the use of corrosive sublimate unless a large 
number of birds are to be treated. This manner of general treatment is 
the cheaper and the easiest way of handling the diseased birds. Individ- 
ual cases may be treated in the case of valuable birds. These I give a one 
one-thousandth of a grain tablet of corrosive sublimate (mercury bichloride) 
every three hours. Food given should be easily digested soft food, and fed 
sparingly. All droppings should be disinfected and burned or buried deeply. 

If no new cases develop within twenty days after the last known case 
was quarantined and the premises disinfected the disease can be considered 
checked. Remember that it is a germ disease, highly contagious, and that 
prompt recognition and treatment and thorough disinfection are the only 
means of stamping it out. 

ORDINARY DIARRHOEA 

Simple diarrhoea is an inflammation of the digestive organs causing 
whitish, yellowish or even greenish loose discharges from the bowels, and 
may result from a variety of causes. The more common causes are: Cli- 
matic changes; a long, tiresome journey; too much food or drink after fast- 
ing; exposure; too much "loosening" food (such as meat, oat feed, bran, etc.); 
overdosing with pepper and condition powders; foul water; becoming over- 
heated and exhausted from being chased; want of shade in hot weather; 
dampness; uncleanliness; crowding and vermin; these may one or all cause 
diarrhoea. 

55 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Treatment 

The only treatment necessary in most cases is to remove the cause. 
Correct the diet and provide pure drinking water. In mild cases, the comb 
does not change color; the feathers may be ruffled and the fowl a little dumpish. 
A little powdered charcoal in the mash food is an effective remedy. It is a 
good plan to keep granulated charcoal constantly before the fowls in a box 
like the grit box. For obstinate cases of diarrhoea, give the fowl a table- 
spoonful of olive oil to cleanse intestines. Follow by using twelve tablets 
of mercury bi-chloride one one-thousandth of a grain, drug strength each, 
in each quart of drinking water. Feed sp&ringly and avoid grain with coarse 
hulls, like oats and barley. Decrease the amount of meat food, use less oats 
and bran in the mash, and use more middlings or some low grade flour in 
the mash. Scalded skim-milk may be advantageously used for mixing the 
mashes. 

DIARRHOEA FROM POISONS 

Paint skins, coarse salt, salt meat, white lead, lye, unslaked lime and fer- 
tilizers are the more frequent poisons which cause diarrhoea in poultry. 
Sometimes arsenic, Paris-gi-een and spray mixtures also cause trouble. 
Such cases of poisoning should be prevented by keeping these substances 
out of the reach of fowls. The cases of poisoning are seldom discovered in time 
to save the bird. The most common symptoms of poisoning with any of 
the above named poisons are: Inflammation of the crop, with copious 
watery discharge from the mouth, frequently blood-streaked, sleepiness, 
diarrhoea, convulsions or twitching of body, dumpishness and sore mouth. 

Treat ment 
Give whites of eggs freely and an abundance of flaxseed tea. 

ENTERITIS 

Enteritis or bacterial enteritis is a very common disease among poul- 
try. It is caused by a disordered state of the digestive organs, which favors 
the development in large numbers of several varieties of bacteria in the 
intestinal tract. The disease is often mistaken for true cholera. The 
predisposing causes of this ailment are uncleanliness, foul drinking water, 
putrid meat food, and filthy or rotten food of any sort. 

Sy mpto ms 

The affected bird is inactive and dumpish. The comb is at first pale 
and limp, and later becomes dark and purplish. There is an abundant 
dark or greenish diarrhoea. Diarrhoea may become bloody. The bird 
appears sleepy and unwilhng to walk around. The bird may be sick a week 
or several weeks before death takes place. Some birds recover without 
treatment. The appetite may be voracious, or the bird may refuse to take 
food. The crop may be full of food, or may contain only a little slimy 
fluid. When the bird dies, the comb is always dark. Often the bird may 
appear dumpish and sleepy, and show a bad diarrhoea; the owner, picking 

5« 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

the bird up to examine it, finds it has lost weight; holding it head downward, 
a stringy, dirty liquid runs from the mouth, and death of the bird soon fol- 
lows. In such cases, tl:e bird has been sick several weeks before it was 
noticed. Examination of the body after death shows the liver enlarged 
or shrunken, according to the duration of the disease. If of long duration, 
the liver is shrunken. The spleen is usually enlarged. The intestines are 
infiamed and are full of mucus. 

Treat ment 
Prevent the disease if possible by cleanliness and pure food and water. 
Quarantine all new arrivals; this disease is contagious. When the disease 
is discovered, isolate all sick birds. Clean up the poultry houses and runs, 
and disinfect everything. Give all coops, nests and houses a thorough 
whitewasliing. Use, also, powdered charcoal in their soft food; do not 
use enough to make their mash dark and uninviting. Clean up everything, 
and keep it clean. Do not feed too heavily. Use low grade flour or white 
middlings in the mash, and use less bran. For the sick birds which have 
been removed for treatment, give a one-tenth of a grain tablet of calomel 
three times daily. For flock treatment, twelve tablets, each representing 
one one-thousandth of a grain mercury bichloride, dissolved in each quart 
of drinking water and no other drink allowed, will be found to be effective. 
Feed on bread moistened with boiled milk. Avoid all sloppy masses, and 
be sure to supply pure water. Keep up your treatment in all cases until 
you are sure that your birds are cured, and the danger of contagion passed. 

CHOLERA AND DIARRHOEAS 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

Cholera knows no breed. The sluggish Cochin and the active Leg- 
horn show no difference in susceptibility to this dread disease. Chicks 
and adult fowls are alike fair prey to this trouble. 

Temperature is a factor in spreading, as well as controlling, cholera. 
Warm, damp days are favorable to the increase of an epidemic, while a 
continued freeze often holds in check an outbreak of cholera. Cholera 
shows itself in the wet days of autumn or early spring, rather than in mid- 
winter. 

Prevention is more satisfactory than medicine. In fact, unless you 
early recognize the trouble you have to contend with, you stand little chance 
of curing the birds. Cholera runs so rapid a course that there is short time 
to do any active medication. 

There is no desire for food, but the bird is decidedly thirsty. The de- 
sire for water is offset by the sluggishness of the bird, and it may be seen 
starting for the water disli, then stopping to wait on the way. The first 
discharge from the bowels is thick from the usual contents of tiie intes- 
tines, but as the bowels become empty the discharge gets less solid and quite 

57 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

watery. As the inflammation of the bowel hning increases there appear 
slight bloody streaks in the discharge, and this may increase until the flow 
is nearly pure blood. 

Severe cases show some irritation of the throat and nostrils, a slight 
discharge appearing in mouth and eyes. At the end of the first day you 
may expect to find the bird decidedly weak. The comb gets darker than 
in health, passing from red to purple as the disease progresses. HiH, in 
his book, "Diseases of Poultry," gives the best description of the post- 
mortem appearance of this disease, as follows: "Lining membrane of the 
mouth livid, except toward the outside which was pale; throat purple and 
full of sticky, dirty, yellowish matter; tip of tongue hardened and partly 
detached; eyes sunk deep into the sockets; eyelids emphysematous or swollen; 
gizzard empty, except a little gravel and thin acid fluid; muscular substance 
of a deep red color; intestines extensively inflamed, with extravasated blood 
patches under the mucous membrane, and here and there corrosions. The 
matter contained in the intestines was of a dirty, thin, ichorous, acrid nature; 
liver deeply congested and increased in volume; lungs slightly congested and 
pleuritic exudation; heart purplish red and studded with echymose of ex- 
travasated blood spots pericardium contained an excessive amount of straw 
colored fluid." 

The treatment of such a disease as cholera, running so rapid a course 
and with such violence, must be prompt and active. To wait a few days 
to see whether any more birds take the trouble is giving yourself a hard, 
discouraging season in which to get rid of the last case. The man who 
is quick to see any change in appearance of his hens will early note danger 
in the first few hours of cholera. At the first suggestion of a possible chol- 
era case quarantine all doubted birds; at once scald or bake every drinking 
dish; scald all food utensils, and clean up every house. In other words, 
destroy every lurking germ that can cause future trouble. If the sick birds 
can be kept by themselves so much the better. 

Add to each quart of drinking water for the sick birds spirits of camphor, 
one teaspoonful, and one-fourth ounce of sulpho-carbolate of zinc. The 
sulpho-carbolate of zinc should be white in color. The more red it shows 
the more impure and irritating it is. Much of the sulpho-carbolate offered 
is not white and should be avoided for internal use. You will notice that 
this salt of zinc is often suggested by me. I get much satisfaction from it, 
as an internal antiseptic. For drinking water for the apparently well birds, 
add to every quart one-eighth ounce sulpho-carbolate of zinc. 

If the diarrhoea is excessive give a pill of "Dover's Powder," one grain 
every two hours until the discharge lessens. The opium in the pill relieves 
pain and quiets the muscular action of the bowels. The diet question is 
difficult to solve. Anything bulky is out of the question, if indeed the bird 
does not directly solve this by refusing 1o eat at all. Highly concentrated 
food is needed to sustain life; something easily digested, and this require- 
ment is best found in meat juice. One tablespoonful, every four hours, given 
by means of a spoon or glass dropping tube, will help the case. The meat 

68 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

juice is prepared b\' lialf cooking steak, sqticezinfi; tlie liciuid out and addinir 
a little salt and pepper. 

The treatment of cholera is not satisfactory in results. If you suc- 
ceed ill curing more than one-half your birds, you may well doubt the pre- 
sence of that disease, and may make up your mind that the trouble is simple 
diarrhoea, enteritis or indigestion. 

The successful plan of liandling cholera is prevention, rather than the 
time and labor needed to doctor sick birds. 

DYSENTERY 

This may be a neglected diarrhoea running on into deep inflamma- 
tion, or it may be a disease of itself originating from some filthy condition 
of the poultry plant. It may be from wrong ideas of what is needed to 
keep healthy birds, or from allowing the disease to be introduced through 
outside birds. Filth}^ water or foul floors are likely to spread dysentery, 
if indeed, they are not the direct cause of it. Djsenter}' is alwaj's accom- 
panied by a looseness of the bowels. The discharge is thin, often watery, 
with more or less blood, according to the severity of the disease. The bird 
early shows weakness of the muscular system, and is soon "off its feed." 

This disease is not highly infectious, but there is much danger if the 
plant is not well cleaned up at the very beginning of the outbreak. There 
is danger enough to call for the division of the flock into well and sick birds. 
The disease seems to spread b}' means of the droppings. 

All suspected, as well as all decidedly sick birds, should have an intes- 
tinal disinfectant given in the drinking water. Here we find another use 
for the sulpho-carbolate of zinc, or for a combination of the sulpho-carbo- 
late of zinc, soda and lime. One ounce of the zinc, or of the combination, 
added to two quarts of boiled water, should be the only drink for four days. 
The best results will be obtained by placing this drink before the birds, for 
ten minutes at a time, soon before feeding, four times a day. If the dis- 
charge is decidedly bloody, a pill of Dover's Powder of one grain can be ad- 
ministered in a little mash twice a day. If there seems to be much pain, 
give three doses of Dover's Powder per day. 

The diet of all the birds, sick and well, ought to be non-irritating for 
a few days. Feed lightly of the coarsest parts of wheat, giving middlings 
rather than bran, making at least one-third the mash of clover hay thor- 
oughly cooked. Feed wheat rather than corn for a week, supplying grit 
in abundance. 

GASTRITIS 

Gastritis is a disease of the enlargement of the food passage just be- 
fore it reaches the gizzard. It seldom is met except in connection with 
inflammation of the crop. The same cause of irritation works in both 
cases. Long continued over-feeding or the over use of spice, or the ill ef- 
fects of the taking in of some poison, are behind ga.stritis. The mucous 
lining is red, over moist and the blood vessels large. The symptoms are 
those of indigestion — lack of appetite, diarrhoea one day and constipa- 

59 



RELIABLE POfJLTRY REMEDIES 

tion the next, some little rise in temperature and general weakness. Study 
to find out the cause of the case you may have on hand. Do not let the 
irritating cause continue its work. Make the drinking water soothing by 
adding some rice and then boiling it. Omit from mash all bran and mix 
it with clover tea. Add to every pint of the drinking water one-tenth of a 
grain of arsenite of copper. 

INDIGESTION 

This is a disorder affecting the entire digestive system from the crop 
to the intestines. It may be an indication of a naturally weak digestion, 
or it may be the result of an over-feeding process. Even the persistent 
use of an imperfectly balanced ration is likely to give symptoms of indi- 
gestion. There is danger in feeding too often, especially young chicks. 
There is quite a difference between letting a bird hunt for its food all day 
and giving it a full meal too often. Exercise is needed as well as good food 
to give the best results. In fact, lazy birds are especially prone to dys- 
pepsia, and commonly it is the owner who is to blame for lack of exercise. 
The use of ground grains and meat to the exclusion of clover hay and vege- 
tables, is responsible for many a flock of dyspeptic hens. 

Given a flock of hens with indigestion, the first step is to put them 
into every-day common sense care and feeding. Have the house free from 
dust and cobwebs, that is, let the sun shine in and sweeten the pens; clean 
every water dish and see that the supply in future is pure; decide on a well- 
balanced ration and feed at regular hours; provide scratching material 
enough to give exercise sufficient to produce good appetites. If for one week 
at the beginning of the improved care you will add one teaspoonful of sul- 
phate of magnesia to every quart of drinking water, and follow this for two 
weeks with one-eighth of a grain of strychnine to each quart of water, you 
will hasten the time when the birds will be well. 



A REMEDY FOR CHOLERA 
A PRESCRIPTION IN USE FOR TWENTY YEARS 
J. M. W. SMITH 

I herewith submit a poultry remedy which I have used for twenty 
years with most satisfactory results For chicken cholera or hog cholera 
the following prescription is the most effective remedy I have ever seen 
tried : 

Flowers of sulphur 8 ozs., pulverized charcoal 4 ozs., pulverized capsi- 
cum 2 ozs., pulverized rhubarb 3 ozs., carbonate of iron s ozs., pulverized 
opium ^ oz., pulverized golden seal 1 oz. Mix thoroughly when it is ready 
for use. Put in an air-tight package to preserve the strength. 

60 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

For chicken cholera make a pill of this remedy about the size of a small 
English pea and force the infected fowl to swallow it by forcing the mouth 
wide open and dropping the pill into the throat. 

To use as a preventative of cholera, put one teaspoonful in feed enough, 
for twelve hens and feed three times a week. It will not only prevent dis- 
eases but will fatten them quickly and increase the egg production at least 
50 per cent. 

For hog cholera give each adult hog one teaspoonful in slop or swill; 
pigs half that amount. 



BOWEL TROUBLE IN SMALL CHICKS 

SIMPLE MEANS OF PREVENTING DIARRHOEA OR BOWEL 
TROUBLE IN SMALL CHICKS AND THE BEST TREAT- 
MENT FOR SAME WHEN IT MAKES ITS APPEARANCE 

P. T. WOOD. M. D. 

A BOWEL trouble in the form of diarrhoea or "white diarrhoea" 
is one of the most common diseases of small chicks. Diarrhoeas 
in small chicks arc very similar to diarrhoeal diseases of children 
and arise from similar causes. 

During the past year or two several investigators have endeavored to 
show that white diarrhoea and other diarrhoeas are more common among 
incubator hatched and brooded chicks than those reared under hens. I have 
carefully investigated this matter and do not find any ground for attributing 
the cause of this trouble to the method of incubation employed whether 
artificial or natural. 

In cases coming under my observation during the past several years 
there have been proportionately quite as many cases of bowel trouble among 
hen hatched chicks at the same season of the year as among brooder chicks. 
Many investigators are misled in their observations in this regard owing 
to the fact that such a very considerable portion of chicks are hatched in 
incubators and reared in brooders nowadays as compared with those brought 
up by the so-called natural method. Naturally a greater number of arti- 
ficially reared chicks come under observation, and from this fact, their num- 
bers make a deeper impression upon the observer, leading to hasty conclu- 
sions as to the percentage of chicks affected with diarrhoea. Were it pos- 
sible to obtain reliable statistics I feel sure that it would be demonstrated 
that quite as great if not a greater percentage of hen-hatched chicks are lost 
through diarrhoeal diseases than are brooder chicks. 

In the majority of cases diarrhoea in chicks is simply a case of acute 
intestinal indigestion, dependent chiefly upon the inability of the intesti- 

61 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

nal organs of the bird to digest the foods administered. The undigested 
foods act as an irritant and diarrhoea results. All conditions of bad hy- 
giene, careless feeding, too little or too much heat, impure drinking water, 
infected food and unsanitary surroundings are all causes of diarrhoea. 

Chilling a Common Cau.se 

With early hatched chicks undoubtedly chilling and exposm-e is com- 
monly a cause of bowel trouble. When the weather is cold little chicks 
need much more heat and hovering than when the weather is warm. There 
is very little danger of overheating brooder chicks in wintry weather, or 
when the outside temperature is below 50 degrees. When the outside tem- 
perature gets to 65 degrees and upwards great care must be taken not to 
overheat the chicks. P'locks that would readily stand a temperature of 
110 or 115 under the hover of the brooder in cold weather would, when the 
outside (outdoor) temperature stands at 75, be seriously injured by long 
exposure to any temperature above 100, for the reason that there is not suffi- 
cient difference between the temperature under the hover and that immed- 
iately outside in the hover apartment, and the chicks do not have the same 
opportunity to get away from the heat that they did when the weather was 
colder. Crowding chicks in poorly ventilated coops and brooders where 
they are subjected to stifling heat and an insufficient supply of piu-e air is a 
prolific source of trouble. All of these causes are easily avoided. 

Little chicks require to be kept comfortably warm at all times whether 
they are reared under a hen or in a brooder and just what temperature is 
comfortably warm is one that will have to be decided by the care-taker 
through observation of the chicks. A great deal depends upon the particu- 
lar brood under observation. Chilling and overheating must both be avoided 
if diarrhoea is to be prevented. Late hatched broods more commonly have 
diarrhoeal trouble than earlier ones because they frequently are less care- 
fully tended than early broods and because of weather conditions. 

Indiscretions in feeding or careless feeding are undoubtedly the most 
prolific causes of diarrhoea and "white diarrhoea" in chicks, with the pos- 
sible exception of chilling. If the chickens are given an opportunity to bal- 
ance their rations for themselves, being supplied with a liberal variety of 
necessary foods, there will seldom be any trouble from this source. It is 
only where chicks are kept on short rations and starved into eating things 
that are not good for them, or fed on too one-sided a ration, that digestive 
troubles are common. Chickens are naturally healthy and hardy if bred 
from good, sound, healthy breeding stock and they are not as a rule subject 
to digestive disorders when a reasonable amount of common sense is em- 
ployed in taking care of them. 

Too heavy grain and meat feeding with an insufficient supply of raw 
vegetable food, or perhaps none at all, is a common cause of digestive dis- 
turbances resulting in diarrhoea. When chicks have free range upon grass 
land and there is plenty of fresh crisp grass and tender green stuff for them 

6S 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

to pick up, there is little need to pay any attention to the supply of vege- 
table food, but just as soon as the chicks are kept in confinement or an 
attempt is made to raise them on bare ground or in buildings where 
they cannot get fresh succulent green food, this item becomes of the ut- 
most importance, althougli it is frequently overlooked. It is possible to 
bring some broods to maturity with only a very limited supply of green food, 
but in the majority of cases unless raw vegetable food is fed freely the results 
will b(> disastrous. 

Raw Vegetable Food is Necessary 

One of the most satisfactory food rations is a dry grain chick food 
kept always before tlie chicks with a constant supply of granulated bone, 
pure beef scrap of good quality, charcoal, grit and pure fresh drinking water. 
This ration should be supplemented with daily feeding of raw vegetable 
food unless the chicks are running on grass land. Raw potatoes and raw 
beets are undoubtedly the most satisfactory raw vegetable foods for feeding 
small chicks. They should be fed cut in large pieces scattered about so that 
all chicks have an eriual opportunity to pick at them. Scalded cut clover 
may be fed occasionally, also rye, oats, or wheat sprouts but cabbage should 
be fed very sparingly as it is liable to cause digestive disturbance and diar- 
rhoea, particularly if it has been frosted. Where the chicks have alreadj' 
developed diarrhoea raw potatoes are the best form of raw vegetable food. 

In addition to the dry grain food, which should be supplemented as 
the chicks get large enough with hard wheat and fine cracked corn, some 
cooked food should be fed occasionally to afford vai'iety, and for this pur- 
pose there is nothing better than thoroughly boiled cracked rice or boiled 
wheat. These grains should be seasoned slightly with salt while cooking, 
ami should lie boiled almost dry ami f(Ml when cool. 

Beef Scrap Should Be Tested 

Extreme care must be employed in selecting the meat food or beef 
scrap, as it is through infected beef scrap that many cases of bowel trouble 
due to impure food arise. Good beef scrap should not have a foul odor, 
ncither.-^houldit be lumpy or full of vegetable fibre (adulteration with cotton 
seed hulls). If the scrap is lumpy and the lumps show white in the interior 
on being broken apart the scrap should not be fed to either young or old 
stock, as it is only fit for fertilizer. 

A good way to test beef scrap is to examine it first for lumps. If none 
are found and the scrap smells reasonably sweet wet up a little of it with 
scalding water. If a foul odor is given off the scrap is not fit for feeding 
small chicks. If the odor remains sweet and meaty it is usually safe to 
feed the scrap. Scrap should always be tasted to ascertain if it is salt, as 
sometimes scrap is sold for poultry feeding that contains a considerable pro- 
portion of salt, and when fed trouble results. Good pure meat scrap may 

03 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

be fed freely with no danger of harmful results if the chicks have plenty 
of raw vegetable food. 

One other common cause of diarrhoeal troubles in chicks is breeding 
from debilitated and unhealthy birds or stock that is not in the best con- 
dition. The diarrhoea itself is not inherited but the chick coming into the 
world with a weak constitution is unable to resist the disease and so falls 
a ready victim. 

To Prevent Disease Remove The Cause 

Crowding chicks into too close flocks and using brooders or brood coops 
that are filthy with the excrement of the last or earlier broods are common 
causes of disease. It is a wise plan to never put more than fifty chicks in 
one flock, as this is about as many as it is possible to care for properly in 
one brood and give the chick an equal chance with the others. 

All of the above mentioned causes are easily preventable and if guarded 
against, diarrhoea will seldom make its appearance in a flock. Preventive 
treatment may be summed up as follows: 

Breed only from sound, healthy, vigorous, well-matured, hardy stock. 
Keep the eggs at a temperature of not lower than 40 nor higher than 50 
degrees, while saving them for hatching. Incubate only fresh, well-formed 
eggs. Keep the chicks quiet and warm for the first 24 to 36 hours after 
hatching, and give no food during this time. Give the chicks an oppor- 
tunity to properly balance their ration from the start, seeing that they are 
supplied with all necessary food at all times. Be sure that they are com- 
fortably warm and that they get a plentiful supply of pure fresh air. Avoid 
exposure during the first week as chicks are very susceptible at this time. 
After they are ten days old they are, if properly trained and cared for, past 
the most dangerous period. If diarrhoea makes its appearance in a flock 
it may be frequently checked by simple home treatment. 

How To Treat Diarrhoea In Chicks 

One of the most satisfactory plans of treating diarrhoea when the first 
symptons are noticed is to give the chicks all they will drink three or four 
times a day of scalded sweet milk to which has been added a little grated 
nutmeg. On the following day they may have a little cracked rice that 
has been thoroughly boiled and lightly seasoned with salt. Let the rice 
cool before feeding, and scatter over it a very little raw bone meal. The 
scalded milk and nutmeg may be continued. If the chicks have not been 
supplied with raw vegetable food, cut a raw potato into large pieces and give 
it to them to pick at. 

Should the diarrhoea persist, obtain from any homeopathic physician 
or any homeopathic pharmacy some tablets of mercury bi-chloride, 1-1000 
of a grain drug strength each, and dissolve 10 of these in each pint of drink- 
ing water, allowing the chicks no other drink. 

Keep the chicks confined close to the brood coop or brooder while under 
treatment. Be sure that they have an opportunity to get comfortably 

64 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

warm at all times. Do not let them huddle in sunny spots, and keep their 
quarters dry and clean. For a little while each day expose all parts of the 
brooder or brood coop to fresh air and sunlight. 

If these rules of prevention and treatment are carefully followed the 
poultryman will have little to fear from diarrhoea in small chicks. 



DISEASES OF THE LIVER 

CONGESTION — INFLAMMATION — HYPERTRO- 
PHY—THE SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

The diseases of the liver generally result from too heav3' feeding or 
from the over use of condiments. Nine-tenths of these liver troubles are 
due to the giving of a ration too rich in starcli elements. The single flock 
of the village lot is especially prone to liver disease because of the large 
proportion of bread foods in the table waste. Unless you can control the 
feeding of this waste it is safer to depend upon a mash of balanced ground 
grain and meat. 

Congested or sluggish liver is the beginning of inflammation of the 
organ or may be a serious trouble in itself. If left to follow its own course, 
with no change in diet, the chances are that inflammation and enlargement 
will follow. 

Any trouble with the other organs of the abdomen that obstructs the 
circulation of the blood will congest the liver. The persistent feeding of 
many of the so-called "egg foods" to birds closely housed and yarded irritate 
both liver and egg organs. The use of a ration in which potatoes form too 
large a part throws so much work upon the liver that, in its endeavor to per- 
form its part, it becomes at first congested, then inflamed, and ends in per- 
manent enlargement or in atrophy. 

CONGESTION OF THE LIVER 

The early symptoms of a congested liver are seldom noticed. There 
is a lack of color in comb and wattles that makes one wonder what is to fol- 
low. Usually your first sign of trouble is a watery diarrhoea, dark at first, 
but changing in a few days to a yellow cast. The feathers do not look 
smooth and shiny, but have a dull, rough appearance. At this time the 
color of comb and wattles has begun to change from the natural hue to adark 
red or purple, often getting nearly or quite black in color. The sick birds 
show no appetite for food, but move from place to place without ambition 
to eat or exercise. 

If these cases are early noticed and promptly treated, most of them 
will recover their health. As the cause is largely one of improper feeding, 

66 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

the return to rational foods must be the first step. Make the mash as 
largely of cut clover as you can get the bird to take. Drop out much of 
the flour and cornmeal. Better feed green cut bone or fresh meat, than 
dry meal, for a month. Give the fowls as scratching material the waste 
from the hay mows. If the cases appear in warm weather give the birds 
access to a clean grass run. 

At the first appearance of liver trouble give each bird a teaspoonful 
of castor oil. If this is not easy for you to do, the next best plan will be 
to get the same results by adding one-half teaspoonful sulphate magnesia 
to the drinking water of each bird. If the birds are not thirsty, you must 
give it from a spoon or a dropping tube. After a single dose of laxative 
medicine I should refrain from further medication and depend upon proper 
food and care. 

Dr. J. Woodroffe Hill recommends the following treatment: "Ten 
grains each of sulphate magnesia and bicarbonate of soda daily, until four 
or five doses have been given; afterwards a little powdered gentian should 
be mixed with the food, and a few spots of nitrohydrochloric acid mixed in 
the drinking water. A plain diet should be allowed, also exercise." 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER 

The symptoms of this stage follow those of congestion of the liver. 
The diarrhoea is watery and yellow, poor appetite, and increased desire 
for water. There is a sluggish manner in breathing, suggesting lowered 
vitahty. The birds show little inclination to move about; lose weight rapid- 
ly; becoming little more than skin and bones in the course of two to three 
weeks. 

Treat these cases, if at all, by clearing out the bowels once with castor 
oil or sulphate of magnesia, following this by the use of tincture of nux 
vomica one-fourth teaspoonful to every pint of drinking water given the 
birds. 

Dr. Hill gives the following: 

"Symptoms — Tenderness on external pressure, sometimes enlarge- 
ment of the abdomen, great depression, bilious diarrhoea or dj'sentery, 
quickened breathing, rapid emaciation, yellow hue of skin, thirst, loss of 
appetite. Not unfrequently lameness in the right leg is manifested. 

"Treatment — HaK a grain each of calomel and opium, repeated in six 
hours, and followed by ten grain doses of tartrate of potash morning and 
night. Diarrhoea or dysentery to be checked with astringents; breast 
and abdomen to be held over hot stream; acidulated water to drink, as in 
the preceding disease. The birds should be kept perfectly quiet, and fed 
sparingly with bread soaked in milk or lime-water, or boiled rice." 

HYPERTROPHY OF THE LIVER 

An overlarge or solid liver is most common in the late winter or early 
spring months, especially in hens completing their second year. This 
result is due to the constant over-feeding of heat producing foods to the 

66 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP ' 

exclusion of bulky vegetable elements. Then there is tlie lack of exercise 
due to close houses and small yards, and no scratching material. Over- 
feeding and little work cause the deposit of fat in various parts of the body 
and no organ suffers more from this cause than the liver. 

At the beginning of this trouble the hen shows an increased bright- 
ness in comb and wattles and is an extra good layer. Soon, however, the 
reaction comes. The comb becomes less bright and the bird takes little 
paine in ihe care of its plumage. As the bird becomes more and more 
heavy it moves about slowly; taking time in all motions, staying on the 
roost late in the morning and returning to it early in the afternoon. 

Vale states that "as a precautionary measure, poultry keepers should 
occasionally take up each fowl and gently grasp the abdominal walls be- 
tween the fingers and the heel of the hand. If found to be firm and un- 
yielding it is pretty certain that they are too fat. To remedy this state of 
affairs, reduce the quantity of fat-forming food given, and add a little Epsom 
salts to their drinking water. 

Treat ment 

Add to the drinking water, one-half teaspoonful powdered muriate 
of ammonia to every quart. Feed very sparingly upon unstimulating food, 
and give plenty of green food. 

APOPLEXY 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

By apoplexy 1 mean the condition resulting from a break in a blood 
vessel of the brain. This break may come because of a weakened state of 
the artery itself, or from too great a blood pressure on it from over action 
of the heart. The common cause of weakness of the blood vessels of the 
brain is an over-fat condition of the whole bird. In common with other 
parts of the muscular system, the little muscles of the arteries suffer from 
fatty degeneration, which produces a weakened wall to resist pressure. 
Without some other direct factor this fatty wall would seldom give away 
and produce a brain trouble. However, let a fowl in this fatty state be 
chased violently about the farm, and the increased action of the heart brings 
to bear on the brain vessels increased pressure that is likely to produce 
serious results. Hens in this diseased condition are likely to have difficulty 
in passing their eggs, and during the greater strain imposed in laying they 
are liable to burst a vessel in the brain, and apoplexy results. This ac- 
counts for many laying hens being found dead on the nest. 

Filb'ng crop and gizzard to extreme fullness, in an over-fat bird has 
been known to produce apoplexy and death. I remember a case in my 
own yards several years ago. A two-year old male, a Wyandotte, at the 
end of a long breeding season was put into a pen with a dozen half grown 
cockerels. While in the breeding pen he was all attention to the hens, 
seeing that they had food enough before he would help himself, but under 

67 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

his changed circumstances he was greedy to get all he could from the young 
males. As I fed them one night, I noticed how lively the cock was, how 
he was eating as I had never seen a bird eat before. Apparently he was in 
perfect health. Half an hour later I found him lying on his side dead, with 
purple comb and wattles. His crop was stuffed with grain, and his gizzard 
was tightly packed with food of all kinds. 

In times of long continued hot weather cases resembling apoplexy may 
be met. These are usually sunstroke, and while there is brain pressure, 
there is no clot of blood to be found in the brain as in apoplexy. 

Prevention of apoplexy is along the line of proper care. First, the 
feeding a well balanced ration; second, no chasing of birds by dogs or boys; 
third, moderate feeding in such a way as to prevent a greedy bird obtaining 
his food in too short a time. 

Treatment 

Cases of apoplexy, and cases resembling it in a way, should be bled at 
the first indication of the trouble. To wait awhile is to see the bird die. 
With a sharp knife open a blood vessel on the under side of the wing. Let 
two teaspoonfuls of blood flow before allowing the blood to clot. Even this 
small amount will reduce the pressure on the vessels. Apply ammonia 
vapor to the nostrils, turpentine or strong tincture of iodine to the back of 
the head. A laxative, such as castor oil, or one drop croton oil, should be 
given if the bird can be made to swallow. 

Few cases of apoplexy ever regain good health. There is always some- 
thing wrong about the birds, and they are constantly getting out of con- 
dition. If a number of cases appear in a flock, it will be well to make a few 
changes of diet. Reduce the quantity of corn and cornmeal; increase the 
amount of clover and green vegetables, and give the birds their freedom, 
or yard them on large grass fields. Provide some protection from the heat 
of noon day. 

INTESTINAL WORMS 

THE ROUND WORM— THE TAPE WORM 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

There are two kinds of worms that are more or less common in the 
digestive canal of fowls — the "round worm" and "tape worm." 

THE ROUND WORM 

The round worm receives its name from its shape in contradistinction 
to the flat tape worm. The round worm is much more common than the 
tape worm, and is familiar to any dresser of poultry. It is not a source of 

68 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

trouble except from the massing of large numbers. A few worms make 
little impression on the health of a bird, but if they abound in hundreds 
they will have a decided effect on dipcstion. The large numbers, matted 
and wiggling, may be a cause of stoppage; their irritation causes diarrhoea, 
and their appetites diminish the nutriment intended to support the fowl. 
The round worms are seldom passed in the bowel discharges. Now and 
then a worm is passed, but it soon dies in the droppings or it is eaten by 
some other bird. It is not till a bird is killed or dies that worms are known 
to be present. The round worm varies in size from one third to five inches 
in length. Its color is white. The head is i)ointed like the sharpened end 
of a pencil; the tail blunt like the end of a finger. 

Sy mpto ms 

The symptoms of worms are those of indigestion. The comb and wat- 
tles are pale, bird thin, with possibly a slight diarrhoea. 

Treat ment 

If you suspect worms, try to remove them. Dissolve in the water that 
is to be used for mixing the mash, two grains santonine for each bird to be 
treated. Mix a small amount of mash, quite dry, and add castor oil, one- 
half teaspoonful for each bird. Feed this to the suspected birds, watching 
for the results of the "worm treatment." All droppings should be collected 
often and put out of reach of the birds. 

W. Vale advises: "Beat a new-laid egg, with one tablespoonful of 
oil of turpentine, and mix thoroughly by agitation. Give a teaspoonful 
of this mixture night and morning for a few days; or divide a quarter of an 
ounce of areca-nut in powder, into four parts, and give one part every morn- 
ing, fasting, with a dessertspoonful of sweet oil two hours after each pow- 
der." 

THE TAPE- WORM 

The tape worm is not as common as the round worm. I have met 
poultrymen who have never seen a tape worm; even when dressing fowls. 
Perhaps if they had taken pains to examine the contents of the bowels 
they might have another story to tell. Vale tells us that this tape worm, 
"appears to be identical with the tape worm found in cats (Toenia crassi- 
colis), and it is, therefore, highly probable that it is derived from the same 
source — that is, the fluke of the liver of the mouse; for it is an ascertained 
fact that fowls will actually catch mice and eat them. I have seen brooder 
chicks catch little mice and tear them limb from limb." 

Our fowls generally show no indication of the presence of tape worms. 
Sometimes the birds will be uncommonly thin in spite of a good appetite, 
but tape worm is not thought of. When the worm gets quite long, pieces 
of the tail may be seen in the droppings, looking like narrow tape. 

Knowing, or even suspecting, that you have a case of tape worm to 
deal with, give the bird six drops oil male fern in one teaspoonful castor 
oil. The proper time of the day to give this ia in the morning while the 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

crop and gizzard are empty, and if the feed of the night before is a light 
one, so much the better. Two hours after giving the male fern, give a 
light mash containing for each bird treated one teaspoonful castor oil. 

Dr. Hill BtatevS "in my opinion santonine, in one grain dose, combined 
with seven grains of areca-nut, is the most useful and effectual poultry 
vermifuge. 

"Food should be withheld for three hours after the administration of 
worm medicine, and then a warm, soft meal should be allowed, and this diet 
continued for a couple of days before returning to ordinary food. It is most 
essential that all parasites expelled should be vigorously destroyed." 

A Specimen Three Feet Long 

A bottle of alcohol containing a tape worm three feet long which came 
away from a Golden Wyandotte hen was brought to the office of the Re- 
liable Poultry Journal. The worm was complete, head and all. The hen in 
question ate heartily, but lost flesh and gradually weakened. The owner 
could not discover what was the matter with her. She had no cold, ate 
well, but became distressingly poor and weak. Finally he thought of worms. 
Acting on this theory, he kept her without food for thirty-six hours, then 
gave her a full feed of stewed garlic, cut in short lengths. She ate heartily 
of this and the next day the owner had the three-foot tape worm in alcohol. 
The hen began to mend immediately, regaining her normal flesh, and was 
soon as well as ever. 

THE CROP 

THE CAUSES AND TREATMENT OF ITS DISEASES 
DR. N. W. SANBORN 

Impaction of the crop is a condition known to many keepers of poultry. 
This is caused by the retention and swelling of grain, by the accumulation 
of long pieces of grass or hay, or by some obstruction at the outlet of the 
crop. In rare instances it results from the damming of food from impaction 
of the gizzard. Birds kept closely housed all winter are eager in the spring 
time to eat the dead grass that has laid under the snow for months. This 
is quite tough and is hkely to give way near the ground, giving lengths from 
two to five or more inches. By swallowing these in large numbers there is 
danger of the pieces roUing and matting together and forming a round ball 
in the crop. There is also a source of danger in the scratching material fur- 
nished, unless vegetable food is provided to satisfy the craving of the fowl. It 
will get "filling" in some way, even though it eats its bedding of leaves and 
straw. 

Cases of impaction caused by cracked corn have come to my attention. 
Nearly grown cockerels fed at night a very full feed of cracked corn have 

70 



THE INTESTINES AND CROP 

gorged themselves with it, and then drunk water, causing the corn to swell 
so as to stretch the crop to its utmost. Such cases usually correct them- 
selves, or with a little manipulation soon get cleared of the packed contents. 
Now and then you will run across a case of impaction caused by some foreign 
substance filling the outlet of the crop. This may be wood or bone, with a sharp 
point sticking into the sides of the crop, or possibly lying across the outlet. So 
far as the size of any substance is concerned, you may accept it as a fact 
that anything a hen swallows will pass through the digestive system safely. 

Treat ment 

A case of impaction due to over-feeding or swollen grain should be 
handled by manipulation. Try to get a little castor oil down the food pas- 
sage, then gently begin at the part of the crop nearest the mouth and push 
a little grain toward the head. Hold the birds head down, thereby letting 
gravity help do the work. Have patience, work carefully, and if you do 
not succeed along this line then you can open and clear out the crop through 
an opening in the skin. 

Opening the Crop and Removing the Food 

Have someone hold the bird so you can have both hands free to work. 
Pluck enough feathers from the breast to give bare skin ^ inch wide by 2 
inches long. Then with a sharp knife cut through the skin, lengthwise 
of the bird, an opening one inch long over the place of the swollen crop. 
Cut only the skin, leaving the crop untouched until the blood of the first 
incision has ceased to flow. Then cut through the crop a line a little over 
^ inch long. Half an inch may seem short, but you will be surprised to 
see how long the opening is after you have worked through it for a while. 
In removing substances from the crop be careful to let as little as possible 
slip between the skin and the crop. With an opening into the crop, be- 
gin with sugar-tongs, tooth-picks, or anything else handy, to remove the 
contents. If filled with grass or hay, it may be necessary to cut the mass 
with scissors before any start can be made. When the crop is apparently 
empty, push your little finger into it, feeling to know whether there is any 
obstruction at the outlet. If you find the opening clear, sew up the cut. 
W'ith needle and white silk thread, take two single stitches in the cut in the 
crop, leaving ends long enough to hang out of the wound an inch. Then, 
in the same way, take three stitches in the skin, being careful not to include 
the crop in the knot tied. After the operation, feed lightly on well cooked 
mash, omitting grain for a week. 

Additional Treatment 

Some cases can be entirely cured by putting the fowl in a coop by 
itself, giving a plentiful supply of sharp grit and oyster shell, and feed- 
ing exclusively on hard dry grain. Cases that will not resDond to this 
form of treatment may be operated on in the following manner: 

71 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Obtain a rubber tube about the size of a lead pencil and attach to 
one end a tin or glass funnel. Provide about a pint of luke warm water, 
moisten the rubber tube in this and introduce it into the crop, passing it 
through the mouth and down the throat, taking care to avoid the wind- 
pipe. Pour a quantity of warm water into the funnel and allow it to flow 
slowly into the crop, gradually working the contents of the crop with the 
fingers until the whole is soft, then turn the bird up side down and by work- 
ing the crop make it vomit the obstructing mass. This is much more simple 
than cutting open the crop. 

After treating give the bird a drink of flaxseed tea or a little warm 
water and feed sparingly on soft food for a few days. Give a tablet of nux 
vomica and sulphur comp. (1-100 of a grain drug strength each) morning 
and night until the bird is able to digest its food normally. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE CROP 

Inflammation of the crop is caused by an ii-ritation of retained food 
or from the effects of foreign substances swallowed. Irritating materials, 
such as paint skins, rough-on-rats and pieces of unslaked lime, produce 
the trouble throu,gh direct contact with the mucous lining of the crop. 
The feeding of too large a quantity of black or red pepper in the mash has 
caused inflamed crops, as well as trouble with the egg functions. With a 
crop that is tender, and even painful, the hen is restless, moving about with- 
out aim, giving one the impression that there is trouble with digestion. 
Now and then the bird may he seen trying to sjvaliow when it has taken 
no food for hours. The motions of breathing are jerky, made so by the 
pulling of the muscles on the crop. 

Treat ment 

If the cause is recent, still getting in its work, try to empty the crop. 
If the contents are small, it may be well to dilute them by pouring into 
the mouth a few spoonfuls of water and then empty as before. If behind 
the trouble is the effect of air-slaked lime, give weak vinegar water; if phos- 
phorus (rough on rats), give magnesia. Having emptied the crop, give 
flaxseed tea and keep the birds on simple diet for a week. 

Dr. J. Woodroft'e Hill's treatment is. "Muscilaginous abluminous 
fluids, such as barley-water, milk, and isinglass, or a thin solution of gum, 
should be freely administered after first evacuating the crop. Should 
phosphorus have been taken, magnesia should be given, followed by tur- 
pentine mixed in cream. Oil being a solvent of phosphorus, must on no 
account be administered. Lead is often a cause of poultry poisoning when 
painters are about. The crop should be immediately evacuated, and half 
a teaspoonful of sulphate of magnesia and five minims of sulphuric acid, 
mixed in a wineglassful of water, be administered without delay. In a 
couple of hours, five grains of iodide of potassium may be given in a des- 
sertspoonful of water. Afterwards feed on mucilaginous hquids. 

"If purging commences, give a teaspoonful of castor oil, with a grain 
of opium. Crude or unslaked lime is an irritant poison to fowls, produc- 

73 



INTESTINES AND CROP 

ing inflammation of the throat, gullet, crop, gizzard and intestines. Oil 
should at once be administered, followed by full and frequent doses of mucil- 
aginous or albuminous fluids." 

ENLARGED CROP 

Enlarged crops are more a source of worry to the owner than to the 
fowl. These crops have become large through a long continued stretch- 
ing, sometimes from over-feeding, more often from impacted crops allowed 
to correct themselves. The appearance of a bird with an over large crop 
is not pleasing and there is always food in it that the weak muscles cannot 
push on to the gizzard. To remedy this trouble, pluck the feathers as for 
impacted crop and make incisions as before, only making them mui;h longer. 
Cut out with blunt pointed scissors, both skin and crop,, so the opening will 
look like a pair of brackets, removing quite a little membrane. Sew it as 
described for impacted crop, being sure to stitch the crop and skin separ- 
ately. Feed lightly for a week, removing such threads as are in sight at 
the end of four days. 

TYMPANY OF THE CROP— CATARRH 

Fowls sometimes have greatly distended crops, which upon examination 
are found not to be impact but filled with gas, some foul smelling fluid, but 
verj' little food. 

The fowl becomes sluggish, the plumage rough and lusterless, the comb 
and face dull in color. The condition may become chronic and differs from 
what is commonly called enlarged crop. 

Treatment 

The condition yields best to anlisei^tics. Inserting a rubber tube as de- 
scribed in "additional treatment" for impaction, thoroughly cleanse the crop 
with warm water to wiiicii ha.s been added a little carbolic acid. Give bichlo- 
ride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) tablet 1-10 grain to the quart in 
drinking water. Feed on ca.sily digested soft food. 



THE ABDOMEN 

THE DISEASES OF THE EGG ORGANS 

THE CAUSES AND TREATMENT OF EGG-BOUND 
INFLAMMATION OF EGG PASSAGE— SOFT-SHELLED 
EGGS— P E R I T O N I T I S— BREAK-DOWN— DROPSY 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

EGG-BOUND may be due directly to the condition of the egg passage 
or to some more remote cause. There are more deaths from this 
trouble in late winter than in all the rest of the year. This is large- 
ly owing to an over-fat condition of the entire system, in which 
the egg passage is pressed upon by the accumulation of fat about it, hinder- 
ing the passage of the egg. Egg-bound is most common in sluggish birds 
or those closely confined without opportunity to exercise. Active fowls, 
such as Leghorns, seldom take life easy enough to get fat, hence are not sub- 
ject to this disease. 

Not only are there large collections of fat in the abdominal cavity, 
but much of the muscular tissue is replaced by streaks of fat. This weak- 
ens the muscles of the egg passage, so that between the extra straining and 
the weak walls it gives way, allowing the egg or its contents to pass into the 
abdominal cavity. The presence of a foreign body excites inflammation 
and peritonitis follows. 

This same egg-bound condition may cause death from heart disease. 
The bird goes on the nest to lay. It strains violently to pass the egg. The 
heart muscles, in common with the general muscular condition, are decidedly 
weak from fatty degeneration. The extra exertion is too much for the 
weakened heart, and it gives out, the bird being found on the nest dead. 

Even the collection of fat at the lower end of the abdominal cavity 
is sometimes sufficient to prevent the passage of the egg. Over-fat hens 
are inchned to lay double yolk eggs, and the extra size adds to the difficulty 
in the passing the egg. Then there are cases where an egg gets broken on its 
passage through the oviduct, obstructing the passage of eggs following the 
broken one. 

Sometimes pullets are egg-bound for a few days when trying to pass 
their first egg, but these cases commonly adjust themselves after a short 
time. 

Symptoms 

The hen moves about, without apparent cause, going at times to the 
nest, but without dropping an egg. The tail feathers are lowered, look- 

74 



THE ABDOMEN 

ing inucli as thoy would on a rainy day. Take the lien in your liands, watch 
the movements of the muscles at the vent and you will see that she is trying 
to eject an egg. Pass your little finger, well oiled, into the passage, and you 
will feel the muscular movements and perhaps run the finger tip against the 
egg itself. 

Long continued cases of egg-hound birds arc seldom helped by any 
treatment. The over-fat condition liaa existed too long to be helped by any 
change in diet. 

Treat ment 

Hold the fowl with her vent in the steam arising from a dish of boil- 
ing water. If this does not sufficiently relax the parts to effect the deliv- 
ery of the egg, carefully inject a tablespoonful of olive oil, and give the fowl 
lialf a teaspoonful of linseed oil or sweet oil every two hours. 

The fowl should be fed on soft, unstimulating food, and if -over-fat 
the food should be reduced in quantity. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EGG PASSAGE 

Inflammation of the egg passage may occur in connection with an 
egg-bound condition or may be due to the over-use of stimulating condi- 
ments and medicines. Some of the "egg-foods" for sale, warranted to 
increase egg production, are decidedly too irritating for continued use, and 
are not without their dangers at any time. 

Inflammation of the egg passage is a serious disease. The efi"ect of 
it is at once seen in the bird's movements and general appearance. There 
is almost a constant desire to strain, as if an egg was in the end of the duct. 
This straining is sometinies so violent that a blood vessel is broken, causing 
death at once. As the bird stands, or moves about, you will notice that 
the wings ai-e dropped a little as though there was a relaxation of the mus- 
cles. The feathers are ruffled and stand out from the body more than nor- 
mal. The vent of the bird is hot, red and in motion. In a day or two the 
hen becomes quiet, as a result of exhaustion, gives up some of the straining, 
and shows an increasing paleness in comb and wattles. The temperature 
drops daj' by day, till at last the bird dies of the widespread inflammation. 

The disease is a good illustration of the need of watching closely our 
fowls and remedying the trouble in the very beginning. So many of these 
cases are preceded by a retained egg that might be removed, that we should 
learn to attack the disease at the outset. This disease is incurable unless 
the cause can be removed. Back of some of the cases is an over-fat condi- 
tion. The eggs are large, the passage is fatty and weak,, an egg is retained 
and inflammation follows. These cases are likely to be hens fed with pul- 
lets. They are less active, have good appetites, and put on fat on the same 
ration that makes the pullets fine layers. Some of these cases can be avoid- 
ed by cooping hens and pullets separately, and feeding the old fowls a larger 
proportion of clover hay. 

75 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

Treat ment 

Dr. Hill recommends: "If the disease proceeds, from a broken, and 
unexpelled egg, immediate removal of the latter is imperative; for so long 
as this (the cause) remains, it is perfectly useless to attempt the reduc- 
tion of inflammation by administering calomel, tartar emetic, or any other 
medicine. The finger oiled should be carefully introduced to explore the 
passage at its lower end, and if the broken egg is within reach it may with 
patience be removed with the finger. If too far away, then repeated in- 
jections of olive oil should be used, which will sooth the Lining membrane 
of the duct, and facilitate the passage of the collapsed egg. These measures 
failing, then a proper pair of forceps is to be introduced, and the offending 
object removed without further delay. This accomplished, the passage 
should be syringed with a weak solution of carbolic acid, and tepid oil, and 
20 to 30 grains of sulphate of magnesia administered and repeated two or 
three times. For some days the fowl must be kept quiet and free from stimu- 
ulating food." 

SOFT SHELLED EGGS 

This is not exactly a diseased condition, but may be the first symp- 
tom of approaching danger. Over-stimulation of the egg organs by use 
of spice, or so-called "egg foods," tends toward the production of thin- 
shelled eggs. Even fright may hurry along the eggs before the shell has 
been added. Worms may increase in the intestines to such an extent as 
to stimulate the egg passage to push along the egg beyond its usual distance. 
An over-fat hen has a tendency toward laying thin-shelled eggs. In fact, 
this is the usual cause of soft-shelled eggs. 

There come times when a knowledge of the causes of this condition 
is useful, but even then we sometimes fail to correct the tendency to thin 
or soft-shelled eggs. The hen that laid the brown eggs that took the first 
prize and several specials at the Boston show in 1899, was sold to a man in 
the west for twenty dollars. In spite of the fact that he wished to set some 
of the eggs, and above all to be able to exhibit the best brown eggs at the 
Nashville show, the bird at once developed a tendency toward thin-shelled 
eggs. It seemed to be in perfect health. Food, exercise, magnesia in drink- 
ing water, grit and oyster shells, everything thought of was tried, but noth- 
ing seemed to make the slightest change. I think it likely that the bird 
started by being over-fat, and this in some way set up an irritation of the 
egg passage. Being unnoticed or neglected, the condition became chronic 
and apparently incurable. 

Provided the cause is an over-fat condition, you can meet this diffi- 
culty by providing a diet low in fat-producing elements, supplying grit 
and oyster shells in abundance, making the birds work for much of the grain, 
and adding a liberal amount of cut-clover to the mash. One or two doses 
of sulphate of magnesia (one heaping teaspoonful to a pint of drinking water) 
kept before the hens for a day, twice a week, wiU help remove the layers of 
fat. 

76 



THE ABDOMEN 

Avoid tliis unsatisfactory condition by feeding a well balanced ration, 
not trying to increase the egg yield by means of anything that does the 
work by irritation of the egg organs. Know the condition of the bodies 
of your birds and so feed to keep them in a laving stafo, but not over-fat. 
Do not be afraid of a little fat during the winter months, l>ut furnish suf- 
ficient exercise to do all the stimulating needed. 

Dr. Woods gives this advice: "Fowls kept closely confined in cold 
weather and not given a sufficient variety of food are expecially liable to 
lay soft-shelled eggs. The trouble may be due to some disturbance of the 
egg organs or to improper food and careless feeding. It usually responds 
very promptly to treatment. 

"See that the birds are supplied with plenty of good grit and oyster 
shell. Feed green food like scalded short-cut alfalfa or clover or scalded 
dried beet pulp freely. Also give cabbages, beets and turnips fed raw 
whenever they can be obtained. Feed a variety of good sound grain food 
and some animal food. Five drops of fluid extract of ergot in a quart of 
drinking water, allowing the birds no other drink, given on alternate days 
for a week will usually entirely check this trouble, provided care is taken 
to see that the birds get a sufficient supply of proper food." 

PERITONITIS 

Peritonitis, or an inflammation of the membrane covering the organs 
in the abdomen and lining that cavity, is a serious and fatal disease. It 
is seldom a disease originating in the membrane, but extends from some 
other part or organ of the abdomen. Some outside violence may so irri- 
tate the membrane as to precipitate trouble, but it is more likely to occur 
from either the bin-sting of a blood vessel in the egg, or from tuberculosis. 

The fever in peritonitis runs high, from 105 to 110 degrees. The bird 
is decidedly hot to the touch, especially over the bowels. There is much 
uneasiness in the bird's motions, though at the same time the tenderness 
of the inflamed parts is extreme. As the inflammation progresses the bird 
becomes weak, finally falling on its side with legs drawn close to the body. 
The appetite is gone and breathing is difficult. 

These cases are seldom cured. Most of them are hopeless from the 
start. Opium pills, one grain each, given twice a daj-, will ease the pain 
and quiet the bird. All foods should be liquid, milk and beef juice, and 
will have to be fed to the bird. Equal parts of beef juice and milk, fed 
warmed to blood heat, and given in tablespoonful doses three times a day, 
will be the best you can do for diet. 

It is seldom, however, that a case recovers from peritonitis. 

BREAK-DOWN 

Break-down is easily recognized as the prominent "baggy-condition" 
of two and three-year old hens. I have seldom seen it in pullets and never 
in male birds. Break-down is the result of a corn diet. The birds are not 
satisfied with the elements furnished in the corn and cornmeal and to supply 

77 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

the need existing in their system eat to excess. In this they get too much 
of the fat-producing parts and too Little of muscle and egg elements. There 
is a large fat deposit in the abdomen, bulging and dragging down the slcin 
and muscles, giving an ungainly appearance to the bird. It is a question 
to be decided on its merits at the time whether to diet these cases or to mar- 
ket them. They probably are salable and if cured will be worth little for 
breeding or egg laying. The real good to be gained from recognizing the 
cause of the "break-down" condition is that of avoiding it in the future. 
Having made the mistake of using too much of the corn products, be careful 
not to do the same another year. 

DROPSY 

This is a disease of the abdomen, or it may be a symptom of a disease 
in some other part of the body. There is always a collection of water or 
serum to be found in or between the tissues. Anaemic chicks sometimes 
develop dropsy as the result of filthy surroundings or incorrect feeding. 
The dropsy is secondary to the anaemia. Old birds may have this same 
condition as the result of poor surroundings or care, or it may result be- 
cause of obstruction to blood flow from diseased organs, or from the pres- 
sure of tumors. 

Tonics, such as mixture of nux vomica, one teaspoonful to two quarts 
water, or arsenate of iron, one grain to one quart of water, used as a drink 
for the sick birds, will help improve the general health of the fowls and some- 
times this is followed by the disappearance of the dropsy. With tonics, 
good food, dry, sunny houses, clean yard and houses, you may look for im- 
provement. 

If the collection of fluid is large it will be well to insert a hollow needle, 
first boiling it in water, through the tense skin, letting much of the liquid 
run out, following this by giving in the drinking water one tablespoonful 
sulphate magnesia to each quart, and keep this up for a week, or until you 
see a change for the better. When this improvement begins, change from 
magnesia to iodide of potassium, twenty grains to each quart of drinking 
water. Fowls that have had dropsy are useless for breeders. 



VENT-GLEET 

THE CAUSE. SYMPTOMS AND ADVICE REGARDING TREATMENT 

P. T. WOODS, M. D. 

This arises from inflammation of the lower portion of the bowel. It 
usually begins by redness, and swelling, and the first symptom to be ob- 
served is a discharge first rather milky, but soon offensive which excoriates 
the vent and forms crusts. Vent-gleet always begins with a hen, generally 

78 



THE ABDOMEN 

from a broken egg, causing septic inflammation; it is propagated in copu- 
lation and hence may spread in a yard or be introduced by an infected 
male. A hen found with it should be at once isolated and the male care- 
fully examined, and if necessary isolated and treated. 

Treat ment 

Prepare a warm bath of water as hot as it can be borne on the wTist. 
Add to two quarts of this hot water one teaspoonful of creolin. Remove 
the scabs from the ulcers and immerse the fowls' abdomen and vent in 
this hot water and hold the bird there from fifteen to twenty minutes. Then 
dry the parts and apply a little unguentine to the sores and to the vent 
rubbing it well in with the finger. Place the bird in a clean dry coop well 
bedded with straw, and feed sparingly on dry grain to which a little gran- 
ulated charcoal has been added. Repeat the treatment once a day until 
I he bird is cured. 

Mr. Lewis Wright recommends "a dose of 30 grains Epsom salts, and 
twice a day inject first a 4 per cent solution of cocaine and immediately 
afterwards a solution of nitrate of silver 4 grains to the ounce. The fiftli 
(lay commence a small copaiba capsul daily and inject acetate of lead 1 
dram to the pint. Feed rather low meanwhile and dust any sore places 
outside with iodoform or aristol. If not well after two or three weeks we 
would kill the bird as the disease is not quite free from danger, for if the 
operator should touch his eyes accidently before he has cleansed his hands, 
the result might be a most violent inflammation. 

"Many of the symptoms so closely resemble those of gonorrhea that 
identity has been suspected by some, but we have never been able to detect 
in the discharges by any of the usual microscopical methods a true gono- 
coccus. 



LEGS AND FEET 

THEIR DISEASES AND INJURIES 

LEG WEAKNESS— BROKEN SHANKS— CRAMP— RHEUMA- 
TISM— SCALY LEGS— DROPSY OF FEET— BUMBLE-FOOT 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

LEG WEAKNESS is seldom to be seen except in half-grown stock. 
It appears in growing birds, between sixteen and twenty-four 
weeks old, cockerels rather than pullets, in heavy rather than in 
light weight breeds. Behind leg weakness we usually find a his- 
tory of over-feeding of fat-producing foods, or the giving of too little of bone 
and muscle foods, or both. Some cases have been seen in flocks fed a large 
quantity of condiments or "egg food." Increasing the weight of the body 
beyond the ability of the legs to support it, or any process that intends to 
gain size at the expense of time, is liable to end in leg weakness. The first 
symptom is a slight weakness of the legs in walking, hardly noticeable to a 
stranger, but suggesting trouble to one who is observant of his own fowls. 
The gait is unsteady, and the muscles are working at some disadvantage. 
In a few days the fowl may be found sitting when eating, and it is inclined 
to walk very little. Looking it over at this time you will find little wrong 
except the leg trouble. The comb is bright, eyes clear, appetite good and 
feathers bright and clean. As days go by, however, it presents a different 
appearance. It is slow to feed, gets less than its share of grain, is picked at 
by the other fowls, and driven from place to place, at length becomes thin 
and lousy, and an object of worry to the owner. 

Treat ment 

At the first appearance of leg-weakness, reduce the quantity of fat- 
producing foods to a small amount. Take away corn and cornmeal, and 
feed little condiments. If the fowls are at all crowded in house or roosts, 
increase the space or dispose of some of them. Stop feeding every time 
you go near them, giving food three times a day, but never to crowding 
the crop. If possible, put the weak birds in a place by themselves, thus 
avoiding their being imposed upon by stronger members of the flock. Feed 
steamed cut clover as a noon meal, whether it be summer or winter. As 
is the case with all birds, clean water and houses are needed to go with 
improved care. Rub the legs with tincture of arnica and add one-half 
teaspoonful of tincture of nux vomica to each quart of the drinking water. 
A good brand of meat meal, containing at least one-fifth bone, should be 
made part of the morning mash in the proportion of one part meal to six 
of grain and clover. If you have peas or beans that you can boil and add 
to the mash it will be helpful in building up the strength of the birds. 

80 



LEGS AND FEET 

Mrs. V. C. Melville states: "If the bird is vigorous it will outgrow 
the trouble, but any treatment to be beneficial must be resorted to on the 
appearance of the first symptoms. For food, give bran, wheat and oat- 
meal; instead of water, give skim milk. Cook oatmeal, and when cool, 
add thirty drops of diluted phosphoric acid for each bird affected, and 
give twice daily. Be careful not to confound leg weakness with rheuma- 
tism. In the latter disease there is always swelling of the joints. If ducks 
are attacked by leg weakness, feed them more bidky food, bran, shipstufT, 
etc. Give them chopped vegetables. Stop giving them corn until they are 
strong again. Then feed in moderation. 

BROKEN SHANKS 

Hardly a season goes by in which we do not see a case or two of broken 
bones in our yards. A chick or fowl is caught in a wire fence or between 
pickets, and in its endeavors to escape it snaps the bone of the shank. Or a 
chick is run over by a team, or stepped on in the yard, and a break results. 

Treatment • 

Breaks of this kind unite quickly if the parts are put together and 
kept there. For little chicks you will find common toothpicks handy for 
splints, while for other birds you can easily make splints of pine. Even 
stiff pasteboard, slightly wet when applied, will do good service. Take 
a bandage of cotton cloth, wide enough to cover the length of the shank, 
wind it around twice, then put the splints outside and finish by winding 
the cloth round three times more. With needle and thread sew the edges 
of the bandage tiiat it may remain in place. The younger the bird the 
sooner the splints can be removed. Other broken bones, such as those of 
wings or thighs, are hard to handle and such cases are best suited for the 
cook. 

CRAMP 

Cramp is an affliction of young chicks, somewhat as leg-weakness is 
to half-grown birds. Cramp is caused by overheated brooders, too many 
chicks for the size of the brooder and too little exercise. The prevention 
as well as the cure of this discouraging condition is summed up in a few 
words — have larger brooders or fewer chicks in each brooder; heat the 
brooders so that the chicks will spread out on the floor of the hover, avoid- 
ing crowding to keep warm; lastly, furnish chaff enough to make every 
chick work to get its grain. Sand or earth will do if you cannot get chaff, 
but a small clover cutter will soon cut you enougli fine hay or straw to fill 
half a dozen brooder pens. Exercise of itself will do very much to prevent 
the appearance of cramp in young chicks. Cramp seems to be a weakness 
of the muscular system from over-weight of the other parts of the body, too 
little use of the muscles themselves and too rapid giowth of the bones. 

81 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

RHEUMATISM 

While this is a disease affecting all parts of the body, the prominent 
symptoms are those located in the legs. Rheumatism presents some rise 
in temperature, swollen joints, contraction of some of the muscles and pain 
in motion. Rheumatism may result from long exposure to cold and mois- 
ture. It may be produced by the over-feeding of meat, induced through the 
the under-feeding of vegetable foods, and is helped along by previous rheu- 
matic tendencies of ancestors. Rheumatism is most likely to appear dur- 
ing damp winter weather in adult birds, and during the brooder stage of 
chicks. 

Symptoms 

The early symptom of rheumatism is contraction of some of the mus- 
cles of the legs. This generally draws up the toes and flexes the shank on 
the knee. Trying to straighten the limb hurts the bird. There are in- 
flammation and pain enough in the muscle or joint to cause the bird to try 
to get ease by sitting most of the time. An acute case of rheumatism, 
attended by high temperature, is sometimes complicated by an effusion 
of liquid into the sack covering the heart, disturbing greatly the heart's 
action. These cases often die suddenly and without apparent cause. The 
heart complication is unsuspected until made evident as the result of an 
examination after death. Rheumatic cases also present congested livers, 
especially in chicks. Fowls are subject to rheumatism, but the fatal cases 
are few. Brooder chicks exposed to the evils of a damp soil or dark, cool 
hovers furnish many cases of rheumatic trouble, the losses from the dis- 
ease being large. 

Treat ment 

The suggestions for treatment also indicate the line to be pursued in 
the prevention of rheumatism. The fowls should be housed in dry and 
sunny quarters. Give as large a variety of green vegetables as possible, 
not forgetting clover in the mash. Provide easy access to grass if in the 
growing season. The water dishes should be protected to keep the birds 
and floor as dry as possible. Rheumatic brooder chicks need an even tem- 
perature of the hover, some facilities for scratching, enough sand or chaff 
on the floor to lessen bottom heat, and water dishes arranged to keep the 
chicks dry. The chicks must have daily feeds of lettuce, cabbage, or some 
green vegetable. In the winter season, turnip or carrot tops, the little 
shoots that start on the roots when in the cellar, will be found to be useful. 
Finely cut clover, and the clover tea to mix the mash, are also helpful at 
any time of the year. 

Swollen joints or muscles can be rubbed with tincture of opium or 
extract of witch hazel, or bathed with weak alcohol. For internal treat- 
ment there is no better remedy than iodide of potassium. This is given 
in the drinking water, for chicks and adult birds alike, fifteen grains of 
iodide of potassium to every quart of water. Give in small dishes, so that 

S2 



LEGS AND FEET 

it all may be used while fairly fresh, and thus avoid waste that cornea from 
liaving to throw away any because it is mixed with dirt or leaves. Com- 
mon cooking soda, one level teaspoonful to each (|uart of drinking water, 
or salicylic acid one grain twice a day, has given good results with old birds, 
but the iodide is the best and most satisfactory. 

SCALY-LEGS 

Scaly-leg and fish-skin disease resemble each other, but are totally 
different in causation. The first is the result of the irritation of a parasite, 
the second a constitutional defect. Scaly-leg is decidedly contagious, while 
fish-skin disease is perfectly non-communicable. Scaly-leg docs not appear 
without the irritation due to a parasitic insect. This parasite comes from 
another fowl, or possibly from an infected house or brooder, and works 
its way in between the scales of shanks or toes. As a result the scales are 
irritated, pushed apart, and dirt begins to accumulate. The irritation of 
the filth, added to that of the parasite, produces a disgusting appearance of 
the legs. Scaly-leg introduced into a flock well cared for does not do as 
much mischief as when it appears in a lot of fo\\'ls kept in dirty houses. 
Scaly-leg passes from diseased to well birds on the roost, or is contracted 
by chicks when with the mother hen. A single case of scaly-leg on the plant 
is a source of danger to every other bird. 

If a little of the scurvy looking material is scraped off and examined 
under a magnifying glass, a few trials will surely show the little parasite. 
Knowing what you have to handle, do not put off treatment, but clean 
up the disease at once. Scaly-leg is so easy to cure that no intelligent 
poultryman is excusable for its presence on his place for over a week. Every 
bird bought ought to be examined for scaly-legs and any doubtful one re- 
ceive immediate treatment. If you at any time find several cases on hand 
I would advise the applying of the proper treatment to every bird on the 
place. This is not much trouble and prevents the cropping out of new cases 
in a short time. 

Treat ment 

A good ointment to kill the parasite is made of one ounce of sulphur 
and ten tablespoonfule of lard or vaseline. Rub this into the rough parts 
of the shanks and toes every other night for a week, and give one more ap- 
plication about three weeks from the first treatment. 

Another good method of proceeding is to fill a common wooden pail 
nearly full of water, adding one gill of kerosene oil carefully so it will float 
on the surface. Then take each bird and dip both the legs down through 
the oil into the water, holding for half a minute and then slowly with- 
draw. Repeat the treatment in four or five days. If the birds have feath- 
ered shanks be very particular in drying the feathers, as they will hold the 
oil and cause the bird much discomfort by irritating the legs. If the shanks 
are allowed to soak in pure kerosene you are likely to have swelling 
find inflammation of the parts. Avoid the danger of scaly-legs by keeping 

8.1 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

the birds from sources of contagion and especially be diligent in having 
all houses clear of filth. 

According to Dr. Woods the best remedy is to use a saturated solution 
of naphthalene flakes in kerosene. Dissolve in kerosene all it will take up 
of the crude naphthalene flakes. Dip the legs in this solution, being care- 
ful not to get the fluid on to the soft parts as it will blister if it reaches the 
tender skin. Give the treatment in the morning. After dipping the legs 
wipe off any excess of the fluid and put the bird in an outdoor run, or down 
in the litter where it can go to exerci-sing. Do not permit the bird to go to 
roost or to squat down in a dark place, as the legs wet with kerosene will 
saturate the feathers along the breast and thighs with kerosene, and if the 
bird remains quiet in a warm place for any length of time with the wet legs 
against the body it will cause bhstering, just as kerosene apphed to the 
human body on a piece of flannel would raise a blister. Please be careful 
in this regard when using this remedy for scaly-legs. The bird may need 
more than one treatment. Give treatments one, two or three days apart 
according to the severity of the case. If carefully applied the remedy will 
effect a permanent cure and prove entirely satisfactory. After one or two 
applications the scales will come away quite easily. When the legs are 
fairly clean they should be washed in soap and warm water. 

DROPSY OF FEET 

This may be due to a gouty or to a sluggish condition of the circula- 
tion. Anything that holds back the return circulation of blood, whether 
a congested liver or pressure of a tumor, tends to increase the size of shanks 
and toes. Freezing of the feet is followed by a dropsical state of the parts 
involved. Crowding with food, or furnishing no incentive to exercise, 
tends toward appearance of this trouble. Unless there is serious organic 
disease that causes enlarged legs, plain (unstimulating) food, green vege- 
tables in abundance and a dose or two of castor oil will improve and probably 
cure the disease. As the legs reduce in size, provide more and more exercise to 
stimulate the functions of the entire body. Brooder chicks, developing 
this condition, need to be fed their grain in barn chaff or finely cut straw. 
Overfeeding and no exercise are the usual causes of dropsy of the legs of grow- 
ing chicks. 

BUMBLE-FOOT 

Bumble-foot is a tender, inflamed condition of the bottom of the foot, 
involving the tissues lying beneath the skin and usually is accompanied by 
the formation of matter. In the very beginning of bumble-foot there is a 
slight thickening of the sole of the foot, with some tenderness of the irrita- 
ted layers. Pressure is increased, the blood supply is shut off, pus forms 
and has a tendency to work out into other parts of the foot or leg. In most 
cases bumble-foot seems to be the result of a bruise, as the general belief 
of poultrymen is that it is caused by jumping from the high roost onto a 
hard floor. I have known several cases where the birds have never been 

84 



LEGS AND FEET 

allowed to roost at all. I have always thouglit that every case of bumble- 
foot was caused by an irritation of some foreign body, such as splinters, 
bits of glass, or briars, or from germs introduced through the skin by some 
puncture by one of the substances named. 1 have looked for foreign bodies, 
but never found any except glass. A bird with bumble-foot limps slightly, 
as though it hurts to press the sore i)art on the ground. If resting, it is in- 
clined to stand on the well foot. If walking, it hurries to get from the bad 
to the good log. As pus forms the limp i.s decidedly pronounced and diag- 
nosis ought to be easy without examination of the sore foot. 

Treat ment 

A case caused by a simple bruise is often aborted by washing the foot 
in strong vinegar, or painting the thickened skin with tincture of iodine. 
Most of the cases that have come to our attention had developed pus. These 
should have the pus cavity opened with a clean thin knife, the matter washed 
out with carbolized water, and the entire surface of the cavity itself painted 
with a solution of nitrate of silver — ten grains to one ounce of dis- 
tilled or rain water. Bumble-foot cases are often neglected until the bot- 
tom of the foot gets into a condition of chronic inflammation that is hard to 
relieve. Fowls that have had the pus cavity opened should be kept on clean, 
dry straw for a week. Many cases have had bad results from treatment 
because obliged to walk about in the filth of the yard or house. The out 
opens the tissues to the dangers from germ life, and it is little wonder that 
many cases have to have the pus discharged over and over again. 



THE SKIN 

THREE SKIN DISEASES 

CHICKEN POX— ECZEMA— FISH-SKIN DISEASE 

DR. N. W. SANBORN 

WE SELDOM have cases of chicken pox among our adult birds, 
but run across it in the autumn of the year in the nearly ma- 
tured stock. Cold, damp, dark days increase the number of 
cases and intensify the disease. While the eruption may ap- 
pear on any part of the skin of the bird, we usually see it on the face or un- 
derside of wings. These places are easy to get at, and from the character 
of the eruption we name the trouble. The eruption may extend to the eye 
balls, or appear directly on them, and may cause loss of sight, if not destruc- 
tion of the eye balls. 

Chicken pox is known by the scabby ulcers appearing on any part of 
the body. These ulcers exude a liquid that is inclined to dry on the sur- 
face and present a scaly, dirty coating. The sores present themselves in 
crops, and have no great depth. Unlike white comb, they do not pre- 
sent at first a fine white point. Along with the coming of the eruption the 
bird shows more thirst than common, and a slight rise of temperature. 

Chicken pox does not prove fatal unless there is a marked lack of caie 
in housing and feeding. Birds kept dry and out of cold winds on simple, 
nourishing foods, need little medicine. If chicken pox appears during a 
long continued storm in the fall of the year and the birds are not kept from 
exposure to it, there is likely to be large death rate. 

For the eruption there is nothing better than common carbolated 
vaseline. Feed a simple mash of at least one-third clover mixed with boil- 
ing milk. See that all damp scratching material is promptly removed and 
dry straw supplied in its place. Avoid exposure to cold and wet. 

FISH-SKIN DISEASE 

This resembles scaly-legs in as much as it presents a dry, rough ap- 
pearance of the covering of shanks and toes, with more or less dirt worked 
into the spaces between the scales. There is no insect life at work in this 
trouble, but it is due to some disturbance of functional action of the bird. 
It is not passed from bird to bird, but it does seem to be inclined to appear 
in certain strains, as if heredit^^ played a part in its coming. The skin of 
shanks or toes seems to be lacking in oil, and presents a dry, scaly appear- 
ance. There is some irritation of the surface, leading the birds to picking 
or scratching the parts, thereby increasing the difficulty. 

Daily rubbing with an ointment (oleate of zinc, one teaspoonful, to 
vaseline, five teaspoonfuls) will soften the dry scales, remove the itching 

86 



THE SKIN 

and improve the appearance of the legs. Changes in diet have not seemed 
to make any improvement in these cases, and the locaJ treatment is all we 
can pursue. 

ECZEMA 

I have sometimes thouglit there was no ditTerence between eczema 
and white comb, and yet we seldom see the two diseases on the same fowl. 
Eczema is a disease manifesting itself in the skin, yet due to a constitutional 
cause. 

It is caused by the over-feeding of a highly nitrogenous ration, by lack 
of excretion, or from closely inbred birds of a rheumatic tendency. The 
disease is never passed by contact from bird to bird. It is not contagious. 

While eczema may appear on any part of the skin, the usual seat of 
the disease is the wattles. I am not sure but it appears at the same time 
on other parts of the bird, but being covered by feathers it does not at- 
tract our attention. On the wattles it attracts our notice by the appear- 
ing of fine white points. These are shghtly raised and seem to have just 
the thin skin over them. They continue to increase in size, new points 
appearing, the contents becoming thinner and slightly lighter in color 
When several "points" have united, the skin bursts, the fluid runs out and 
dries on the surface, forming a scurfy crust. In severe cases the discharge 
has been noticed to irritate the skin of the shanks and toes where it falls on 
them. Fowls with eczema present a tired appearance and a marked loss 
of appetite. 

Treatment 

These cases need an improved diet. The mash should contain a good 
proportion of cut clover, green vegetables should be fed liberally, and there 
should be very little meat fed in any form for weeks. Green cut bone, 
free from meat, w^ill be helpful in building up the fowl. 

One grain pill citrate iron and quinine every morning and one grain 
calomel at night for one week will help clear up the constitutional con- 
dition, and increase the health of the bird. 

Apply to the diseased wattles several times during the week the same 
ointment as recommended for white comb. 

Dr. J. W. Hill recommends as a treatment: "Ten to twenty grains 
of sulphate of magnesia and a grain of calomel, followed by three grains 
of carbonate of iron twice a day in a teaspoonful of water. 

"Locally — The application of benzoated oxide of zinc ointment twice 
or thrice a day, or, in severe cases, when the scabs are hard and firmly at- 
tached, they may be removed, after first softening with hottish barley water, 
and the parts dressed with the following preparations: Oxide of zinc and 
olive oil, of each half ounce; tincture of arnica, two drachms; spirits of cam- 
phor, one drachm; carbolic acid, pure, ten minims; rose water, seven ounces. 
To be applied with a feather or brush three or four times a day." 



87 



PARASITES 

INSECTS AFFECTING POULTRY 

LICE. MITES AND FLEAS—HOW TO FIGHT THEM— FORMULAS 
FOR LIQUID LICE KILLER AND A GOOD LICE POWDER 

P. T. WOODS. M. D. 

IN THE spring, the fowls, having been more or less confined to limited 
quarters during the cold weather, are almost certain to be quite lousy, 
unless their owner is more careful than the average poultry keeper. 
Lice are "in season" twelve months in the year, but when the fowls 
are enjoying outdoor liberty, the pests are less troublesome. In the spring, 
too, the vermin are a menace to the growing chicks. Ask almost any poul- 
tryman whether his fowls are lousy, and the answer will be cock-sure "No!" 
Ten times out of ten, he is mistaken. I never saw an adult fowl that I would 
be willing to guarantee to be free from lice. When you feel very certain 
that your fowls are free from those troublesome "guests," it is a good 
time to be on your guard. Many of the vermin are a disgrace to any poul- 
try keeper. It is easy to keep a flock practically free from them. 

There are many varieties of lice, mites, fleas and other insects affect- 
ing poultry, but it is not necessary to be familiar with the biography of 
each in order to combat them successfully. 

LICE 

The true lice are the long-bodied, six-legged vermin which Hve on the 
body and among the feathers of the fowl. They vary in color and shape 
according to the variety of the louse, but their effect on the fowl is practi- 
cally the same. They do not suck blood, but feed on the plumage and scales 
of the skin of their "host." They may drink blood or serum which exudes 
from abrasions of the skin, but they possess no sucking organs. Each 
louse possesses a pair of sharp claws on each foot. They are a source of 
great irritation to the fowl and, on birds having a tender skin, may cause 
troublesome skin disease. Their presence frets and worries the fowl, and 
interferes with sleep and the proper performance of the normal functions 
of the body. The lice may also act as carriers of disease. Many lice on 
a young chick may result in dumpishness, loss of appetite and stunting or 
death; on adult fowls, the result may be falhng off in egg yield, suscepti- 
bility to disease, infertile eggs and damage to plumage. The eggs of lice 
hatch in from one week to ten days, and the young mature quickly. Lice 
are rapidly spread through a flock by contact with a lousy fowl. Wild 
birds, pigeons, parasitic flies and persons fresh from visiting lousy fowls 
may act as carriers of lice, and so spread the vermin from one flock to an- 
other. 

88 



PARASITES 

In looking for lice on a fowl, examine the head feathers carefully, one 
by one, then look under the wings and along the shafts of tlie under side 
of the large wing feathers, examine the feathers of the cushion and saddle 
down to the skin, and then turn the (owl quickly and look beneath and 
around the vent. If you have eyes to see, you will find them. If you 
find only one or two, a thorough dusting of tlio bird will be all that is needed, 
but if the lice are plentiful, more vigorous treatment will be necessary. 
Lice breed on the fowl among the feathers where the warmth of the bird's 
body can hatch the eggs, which are deposited singly or in clusters among 
the soft feathers. They seldom if ever breed on young chicks, but are passed 
along to the chick by some lousj^ adult bird. 

MITES 

The most common is the red or gray mite, which breeds in cracks and 
crannies about the poultry house. It will be found wherever filth is allowed 
to accumulate, breeding under heaps of manure, in cracks or joints of the 
roosts, in filthy nests and dirty straw. The adult mites are oval-bodied, 
eight-legged little pests, with habits like a bed-bug. They suck the blood 
of the fowls, sallying out from their homes in the cracks to feast on their 
victims. They are wliite or graj'ish when empty, and red when full of 
blood. They are dangerous to the life and healtli of fowls of all ages, and 
are a disgi'ace to any poultry keeper. There is no excuse for harboring them. 
It is possible to keep the poultry house entirely free from them. They can 
live almost indefinitely without poultry to feed on, and are commonly found 
in old, filthy poultry houses. They attack farm animals and human beings, 
and on some produce an irritating, itching slcin eruption. They drive sit- 
ting hens from their nests and kill chicks. 

FLEAS 

Two varieties of fleas are common to poultry. The common hen 
flea which breeds in the nests, cracks and dark, dusty places "about the 
poultry house and attacks fowls and chicks, tearing and biting their skin, 
and sucking their blood. The female of this variety buries itself in the 
skin, and produces a warty growth, wliich may in time come away and 
leave a scar like a burn. Their favorite seat of attack is the bare fleshy 
part about the head, and if the fowl is attacked by many of tiiese insects 
at once, it may die. 

Prevention 

The general rules for prevention and riddance of these pests are the 
same. If eggs are hatched in clean incubators, and the chicks reared in 
clean brooders, and thereafter kept in clean houses and free from contact 
with lousy or vermin-infested birds, they will be practically free from lice, 
mites or fleas. No fowl should ever be added to a flock until it has been 
quarantined and treated with remedies for lice. It does not matter whether 
you see lice on it or not. It should receive treatment on suspicion. For 

89 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES 

general preventive measures, the following are the best: Have the 
poultry house clean, well-aired and well-lighted, get sunlight into it as much 
as possible. Provide a good dust-bath in a sunny part of the house, and 
change the dust often. Keep the roosts and droppings boards clean and 
well kerosened. Whitewash the house and the nests inside and out several 
times a year. If you object to whitewash, use some of the creosote wood 
preserving paints. Dust the fowls when ever the lice are found, and do not 
be content with one dusting. Give at least three thorough dustings about 
a week apart, or use a liquid lice destroyer. Brooders should be well washed 
with warm soap, water and kerosene, and thoroughly dried before being used 
or put away. A good, plain hot whitewashing improves them. 

HOW TO FIGHT VERMIN 

Remember that lice are on the fowl, down deep among the feathers 
and treatment, to be successful, must reach them. The mites and fleas 
are to be combatted in their breeding places. Whitewash, sunlight, lime 
in the dust and soapy water in the dark, dusty places under bushes and trees 
will exterminate the fleas. Hot whitewash, kerosene, creosote paint or 
kerosene, with naphthalene or a little creolin applied to the abode of the 
mites will destroy them. Dusting the fowls thoroughly, or using some good 
lice killer will keep the lice down so that the fowls are practically free from 
them. Nearly all the commercial dusting powders, are good; those contain- 
ing tobacco dust or Persian insect powder are the best, as these are poison- 
ous to the lice. 

An ounce of creolin in one quart of kerosene makes an effective remedy 
for mites and fleas. Applied to roosts, droppings boards and nests, it will 
destroy and keep away vermin. A good liquid lice killer may be made by 
dissolving in kerosene all it will take up of crude naphthalene flakes. This is 
an excellent liquid to apply to roosts to destroy mites. To use it to destroy 
lice on fowls, make a box frame, without top or bottom, large enough to 
hold several hens, and fit on the droppings board. Provide a burlap cover 
for it. Place the frame on the droppings board, and paint the droppings 
board, which serves as the bottom of box, well with the liquid lice killer, 
also sprinkle a little on the burlap. Put the hens to be treated into this 
box, and cover with the burlap. Leave for half or three-quarters of an hour, 
and the lice will be found dead and dying on the bottom of the box, and the 
fowls comparatively free from them. Three treatments, one week apart, 
will be sufficient in most cases. The burlap should be coarse enough to ad- 
mit fresh air to the fowls, and is intended only partially to confine the fumes 
of the lice killer. If the burlap is made longer than the box and tacked on 
at one end, the loose end being longer and free to lap over end. of box, it can be 
easily held in place with a brick or two. The odor of the lice killer or the creolin 
and kerosene mixture will, if applied occasionally prevent mites from har- 
boring about the roosting places. Four fluid ounces of the lice killer added 
to a half peck of finely sifted coal ashes mixed with half a peck of tobacco 
dust, makes a cheap and effective dusting powder after they are well mixed 

90 



PARASITES 

and dried. Another cheap powder can be made by adding lialf an ounce 
of 90 per cent carbolic acid to a peck of thoroughly air-slaked lime; 8tir and 
mix well, and then mix with an equal bulk of tabocco dust. 

In dusting a fowl, thorough work is the thing that counts. ' The dust 
must be thoroughly worked into the feathers all over the body. Dust the 
fowls, three times, one week apart, if you wish to be successful. In this way 
you catch any lice that may have been overlooked or that hatched after the 
first dustings. A two per cent ointment of creolin with lard makes an ex- 
cellent preparation for killing lice on the heads of young chicks. A little 
of it goes a long way. 

Don't harbor vermin in your poultry house or on your fowls. It is 
not only slovenlj', but it decreases profits by injuring the fowls. A little 
effort will keep fowls practically free from lice, so much so that you can- 
not find any on the birds without a close and careful search. Perhaps you 
can secure entire freedom from them. Mites and fleas and kindred pests 
you can get entirel}- rid of if you want to. These last are the most danger- 
ous insect pests. 

CHIGOES 

An insect altogether too common in warm climates is the chigoe known 
locally as "chigger." It breeds on weeds and when fowls are allowed the 
freedom of weed covered runs, this tiny red insect takes up its habitation 
on the tender parts of the bird's head, where it burrows into the flesh and 
eventually dies. This infection produces an eruption similar to chicken 
pox. Much of the so-called "sore head" of the south is the result of this 
pest. Some local poultrymen hold to the theory that it is due to tlie bite of 
the mosquito while others claim it is the sand flea. 

Treat ment 

The first thing necessary is to remove the cause. Cut down the weeds 
and disinfect the runs. To kill the chigoes on the already infested fowls, 
apply sulphur and lard or some other good ointment. Iodoform and vase- 
line is good. The grease smothers the insect in its now homo. 



OBJECTIONABLE HABITS 

EGG AND FEATHER EATING— DE- 
PRAVED APPETITES— CANNIBALISM 

USUALLY the poultryman can blame his own carelessness when his 
fowls contract any of the following habits, habits that are not only 
annoying but productive of real loss. Improper feeding, indif- 
ferent care, overcrowding are fruitful sources of trouble. Make 
your fowls scratch for grain, keep the houses and runs clean, provide all 
needed variety of food, give them regular attention and you will not be con- 
fronted with these abnormal conditions. 

EGG EATING 

Egg eating is a bad habit, usually caused bj- over-crowding, lack of 
exercise and the use of low nests that are open to the light. Where open 
nests are near the floor the birds get into them, scratch about in the nesting 
material, and so break the eggs, after which the habit of egg-eating is quickly 
formed. Frequently the habit is started by the birds finding a broken egg 
under the roosts. They eat this and acquire the taste for more. 

Treat ment 

The most satisfactory remedy is to place the nests in the dark and have 
them elevated at least two feet above the floor. It has also been recom- 
mended to trim the bird's beak until it is tender and then leave a few china 
eggs lying about on the floor. A few pecks at these eggs with the tender 
beak is quite apt to break them of the habit. This treatment is rather cruel 
and when used the birds should be fed their food in a trough or enough of it 
so they will not have to pick it up from the hard floor, or feed soft food. 

Quite often it is almost impossible to break the bird that is a confirmed 
egg eater as she will stand on the edge of the nest and wait for the others to lay 
and at once devour the newly laid egg. We have seen this overcome by cut- 
ting a hole in the center of the nest bottom and arranging the bottom so that 
it will slope toward this hole. The egg when laid will roll through the hole 
and drop onto a piece of cloth placed a few inches below on a slant so that 
the egg will roll out of the way of those to follow. 

FEATHER EATING 

A very bad habit, usually the result of over-crowding and insufficient 
exercise, is feather eating. It is much more prevalent during the moult 
when the young feathers furnish the animal food and salt the birds crave. 
It can often be remedied by giving the birds a good feed of bologna sausage 
which provides the meat and salt needed. Keep the birds busy 

92 



OBJECTIONABLE HABITS 

working for the greater portion of their food, and see that they get the ani- 
mal food they require. Anoint the feathers about the picked area with an 
ointment made by adding a teaspoonful of extract of aloes to a cupful of 
lard, rubbing the same well together. After one or two bitter doses of feath- 
ers thus treated, the birds will usually stop pulling and eating them. In 
some cases it is necessary to get rid of the feather eating birds or else use 
''poultry bits." These bits are simplj' pieces of soft leather sufficiently 
large to prevent the bird from closing its beak on a feather, but not large 
enough to interfere with eating. They are held in place by a fine wire passed 
through the nostril. These bits can be made at home, but can also be ob- 
tained through dealers in poultry supplies. 

DEPRAVED APPETITES 

Fowls quite often develop the habit of eating every filthy thing they come 
in contact witli, drinking from stagnant pools and barnyard filth. Young 
chicks will eat their droppings, etc. Tliis is what is known as a depraved 
appetite and is caused by some digestive disturbance or their inability to 
get pure, fresh water and food to eat and drink. 

Give such fowls and chicks a good grass run. Supply a little fresh raw 
beef daily. Keep a dry mash and pure, sweet beef scrap where they can have 
access to it at all times. 

CANNIBALISM 

Chicks often develop the habit of pecking at each other's toes, eyes, 
etc., sometimes with serious results. They have been known to kill and eat 
their companions. This is cannibalism and is generally caused by too close 
confinement and an insufficient supply of green and animal food, particularly 
a lack of green food. Another cause given for this "toe picking" is that 
of feeding soft or wet mashes so that the chicks can get into it with their feet. 
This mash gums up or forms little balls on the toes of the chicks and in pick- 
ing at it they draw blood and tluis form this bad habit of picking each other's 
toes. The habit once formed is difficult to control and tlieVorst offenders 
should be at once removed or killed. 

Treat naent 

Divide the chicks into flocks, not over 25 or 30 each, provide them 
with litter of mow sweepings, cut clover or alfalfa to scratch in, and see that 
they are plentifully supplied with granulated bone and beef scrap in addition 
to their grain food. Keep charcoal always before them. You will find it 
advisable to hang up a strip of fresh beef flanks for them to pick at. If they 
can be kept from picking one another until they are full feathered out the 
trouble will undoubtedly cease except in the case of a few individuals that 
might as well be killed. 



93 



INDEX 



Page 

Abdomen; The 74 

Apoplexy 67 

Black Rot 49 

Bowel Trouble in Small Chicks . 61 

Break-Down 77 

Bronchitis 23, 34 

Bumble-Foot ■ 84 

Canker 25 

Catarrh of the Crop 73 

Cholera and Diarrhoea 52, 57 

Cholera; A Remedy for 60 

Cholera; Fowl 52 

Colds; Common 22 

Comb; Injuries and Diseases of the 47 

Consumption 36 

Cramp 81 

Crop; Enlarged 73 

Crop; Inflammation of the 72 

Crop; Intestines and 52 

Crop; The 70 

Crop; Tympany of the 73 

Croup 23 

Diarrhoea from Poisons 56 

Diarrhoea; Ordinary 55 

Diarrhoeas; Cholera and 52, 57 

Dropsy . 78 

Dropsy of Feet 84 

Dysentery 59 

Eczema 49, 87 

Egg and Feather Eating 92 

Egg Organs; The Diseases of the 74 

Egg Passage; Inflammation of the., 75 

Eggs; Soft-Shelled 76 

Enteritis 56 

Eye Troubles 24 

Feather Eating; Egg and 92 

Feet; Legs and . 80 

Fish-Skin Disease 86 

Fleas 89 

Frost- Bite , 48 

Fungoid 50 

Gapes . 38 

Gapes; Lime Dust for 43 

94 



Gastritis--- 59 

Habits; Objectionable 92 

Head, Throat and Lungs 16 

Health; Requisities for - 3 

Indigestion 60 

Influenza 21 

Insects Affecting Poultry -.88 

Intestines and Crop; The. 52 

Legs and Feet •. — SO 

Lice-- 88 

Limberneck. 43 

Liver; Congestion of the 65 

Liver; Diseases of the. — 66 

Liver; Inflammation of the - 66 

Liver; Hypertrophy of the.- - — 66 

Lungs; Head, Throat and ' 16 

Lungs; The Diseases of the - — 34 

Mites -- -- -.89 

Parasites : 88 

Peritonitis - — 77 

Pip-. 46 

Pneumonia — 24, 35 

Rheumatism 82 

Roup-. 16, 27 

Roup and "Roupy" Colds - 16 

Roup; Diphtheritic - 2;) 

Roup; Other Treatments of — 32 

Scaly-Legs 83 

Skin; The.- 86 

Throat and Lungs ; Head -- 1'' 

Tuberculosis 37 

Vent-Gleet 78 

Vermin; How to Fight — — 90 

White Comb .- 48 

^^■orms; Intestinal. 68 

Worm; The Round : 68 

Worm: The Tape 69 



95 



DEC 8 1913 



Money-Making Poultry Information 

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Egg Record and Account Book 25c 

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